Kingdom Hearts Bonded Souls
by K-chanLovesAnimeXD
Summary: Continuation of "Shattered Souls", Kyrie now accompanies Sora and his companions thanks to being blackmailed by Xemnas. Following the keyblade bearer on his journey, will she find a way to save Axel? And will she finally realize... Ax/OC, SorKai, others
1. Healing Words

**Okay, this is the continuation of "Shattered Souls" so if you haven't read it, go and read it now. Trust me, it'll help you understand the story more if you know what the hell you're reading about. But for a short synopsis, I guess I'll explain.**

**From where we left off in "Shattered Souls" Kyrie was blackmailed into accompanying Sora, Donald, and Goofy so the organization could know their plans and always be a step ahead of them. Using Axel's life as the blackmail, Kyrie reluctantly accepted the mission, only to be gravely wounded by Xemnas and Saix.**

**Axel, finally able to go and see her at the Addled Impasse, is shocked to see what Saix and Xemnas did to her. Having no other choice, he took her and opened a dark corridor that would lead to Twilight town. But he is stopped by a cloaked man, who is accompanied by Namine. Striking a deal, a man opens another corridor and Axel says goodbye to her, pushing her through as the corridor closed. Keeping his end of the deal, he took Namine back to the castle, but not without feeling remorseful and sadded at leaving Kyrie behind.**

**So, that's a little insight to what's going on. But please, read "Shattered Souls", you'll probably enjoy it!**

**Anyways, enjoy chapter one of "Bonded Souls"!**

**OC (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts (c) Square Enix**

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><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 1

All was quiet as I gazed at the cerulean-blue sky, standing in a field of flowers as I held a bouquet of flowers in my hands. I could feel the cool, gentle wind as it whipped my white hair around my face and torso, uncovering my right eye for a moment before it fell back, covering it again. But it didn't matter, I could barely see out of my right eye anyways.

"_Kyrie!" _I turned and smiled as a man approached. He had red, spiky hair and green eyes that stood out from the blueness of the sky and the multiple colors of the flowers, and he wore a black cloak that stood out as well. He reached his hand out to me, and I gladly took it, giving it a gentle squeeze. My thoughts echoed one thing.

"_**Axel…"**_

…

Kyrie had no idea where she was. The last thing she remembered, was that Axel was talking to her. Otherwise…nothing. But now she could hear voices around her, voices she didn't know or could put faces to.

"Master Yen Sid, what should we do?" a female voice asked, worried.

"Yes, what should we do?" another chirped, the same tone of worry in her voice.

"Calm yourselves, Flora, Fauna, Merryweather. We must heal her, for she may not last much longer otherwise. Gather your magic, we need to perform a group Curaga in order to heal her completely." a male voice, old and deep with age, spoke calmly.

"Yes sir." all was silent for a few moments, before Kyrie could feel a large amount of power surrounding her. This power…it was full of light.

"Curaga!" and then she was consumed by warmth. She could feel the pain disappearing, her wounds healing. All she could smell was flowers and the scent of life. After a few minutes, the warmth began to fade and she could feel her strength returning. As soon as the warmth was gone, she opened her eyes. Hovering over her were four people, an old man and three women. Each of the women had pointy hats, but different colors. One was red, the other green, and the last blue.

The ones who wore the red and green hats looked similar, but the one in green had a thinner face. The one in blue was the pudgiest and did not have graying hair like her companions. The man however was different. He had a long, gray beard and bushy eyebrows, his face stern and his hat, although similar to that of his companions, was blue with moons and stars decorating it. She stared at the man in awe, she could sense great power and light coming from him.

"Oh, she's awake! Are you alright, dear?" the one in green gasped, walking over and placing a gentle hand on her head. Kyrie nodded silently, not sure of what to make of the group. They didn't seem like bad people…but she knew better. Life in the organization taught her that looks could be deceiving.

"_But these people…I don't sense anything wrong. With the organization I could tell, but these people…" _she thought as she stared at them, wondering whether or not she should stay or attempt to run. The old man seemed to have read her thoughts, and gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Do not be afraid, we will not harm you. You are safe here, and are free to stay as long as you please." he spoke. She was silent before he turned to his companions.

"Flora, Fauna, Merryweather, you may fix her clothing. She will be much more comfortable that way." at this, she looked down at her clothes. They were bloodstained and torn in a few places. The three fairies nodded as they waved their wands and in a second, her clothes were fixed. Pleased, she smiled warmly at the three fairies.

"_Too bad I can't speak…Oh! My notebook!" _she looked around for her backpack, and found it right next to her. Reaching in, she grabbed a notebook and opened it, before frowning. All the pages were full, and there were three other notebooks as well, all in the same state. She sighed.

"_Damn. Now what?" _she thought. Yen Sid observed the girl's strange behavior, before realizing something. She had been strangely quiet the entire time, not once making a sound. There could be only one reason why of her unnatural silence, since deaf was out of the question.

"You are mute, are you not?" he asked. She looked up and nodded, causing the three fairies to gasp.

"Oh dear, you poor thing!" the red one, Flora, spoke as she flew over. Her companions, Fauna and Merryweather, did the same.

"So what should we do, master Yen Sid?" the blue one, Merryweather, asked as they examined her. Yen Sid was quiet before flicking his wrist, a brand new notebook appearing in his hand in a puff of smoke.

"Here my child, this will help you." he spoke as he handed it to her. She nodded and grabbed her pen, writing down her message.

**Thank you very much.**

"You are quite welcome. My name is Master Yen Sid, and these three are Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather." he spoke, introducing himself and the three fairies. A unified "Hello." was heard from the three before he looked at her.

"Now, what is your name?" he asked. She quickly began to write her name, when the sentence she had written before began to vanish. Stunned, she dropped the notebook and scooted away from it, not sure of that to make of it.

"Ah yes, I apologize. This notebook is special, it can last forever and once you begin writing something new in it, what you wrote previously begins to vanish as a result." he explained. She nodded and grabbed it again before finishing what she started.

**My name is Kyrie.**

"Aw, what a lovely name." Flora spoke sweetly. The others nodded before Yen Sid continued.

"How did you come to be so heavily injured? What had attacked you?" he asked. Before she could write, the three fairies began speaking their own questions.

"You appeared in a dark corridor, can you wield darkness?"

"What are you?"

"Where did you come from?"

Yen Sid was silent as they shot off question after question, before intervening.

"Calm yourselves, give our quest a chance to speak." he turned to her. "Go on, we will not interrupt."

She was silent. She had no idea what to write, she had to keep her mission completely secret, or else Axel…

"_That's right! Where's Axel?" _she thought, finally remembering what had happened before she blacked out. She looked around the room frantically, but he was nowhere to be found. She felt a deep pang in her chest and tears prick at her eyes.

He had abandoned her.

Yen Sid caught the pain in her eyes as she searched the room, and knew there was more to the girl than what she seemed. That's when he examined her more closely.

She was young, about sixteen or seventeen, with long white hair that covered the right side of her face. And her heart…he closed his eyes. Her heart was very pure, as pure as the seven princesses of heart. But…she wasn't a princess of heart. She was something vastly stronger…

"Can you wield a keyblade?" he asked suddenly, startling her. She turned and met his gaze, surprised to see him staring at her intently. Without further ado, she held out both arms and summoned both keyblades, making the entire room gasp.

"Oh my!"

"She can wield a keyblade!"

"Not just a keyblade, two keyblades!"

Yen Sid was silent as he scrutinized her, it was just as he suspected.

"Then it just as I suspected. The worlds have been waiting a very long time for your return, princess." he spoke. She stared at him in confusion, what did he mean? He quickly walked over to where a desk sat, and took his seat. He motioned her to follow, and she sat in a seat across from him. He was silent as he stared at her, before he began.

"You are lost, are you not? I can tell that your heart is in shambles. Your memories are scattered, and someone has touched you with his darkness. Thankfully, it did not touch your heart, only your right eye." he began. She nodded, but was completely lost at his words. Yes, she had lost her memories before Twilight town, but the rest…how did he know?

"But your destiny is tied to the keyblade wielders and masters. And…to that of the heart of all worlds…Kingdom Hearts." he continued. She was silent, the disembodied voice said the same thing. That she was tied to Kingdom Hearts and the keyblades.

"But, I suspect that you have been betrayed. By whom, I can only suspect. It would explain your state that you came to us in, and why you look sorrowful." he finished. She was silent before writing down everything that had happened her. She knew it was wrong to tell a complete stranger, but she felt she could trust this man. He was silent as he read everything she wrote.

"I see. You have been allied with Organization XIII for some time, but had no knowledge of their dark intentions. Though I am confused, why do you still ally yourself with them?" he asked. She shook her head before writing more.

**I'm not allied with them. The only reason I'm working for them is because if not, my best friend will be killed. I don't want that to happen, so I have no choice.**

"I see. I wish there was something I could do, but alas, I cannot. This is a test for you, Kyrie. What you choose to do is up to you, but I will say this. Your friend's life is in peril, whether you help the organization or not." he spoke gravely. She nodded sadly, but what could she do? How could see save Axel?

"Kyrie," she perked at her name and stared at Yen Sid. "go with Sora, Donald, and Goofy." he spoke. She stared at him in confusion, what was he thinking?

**But that's what they want me to do! They want me to act as a double-agent, I could put them in danger! And…I don't want anyone to get hurt. **

"Whether or not you do is your choice, but Sora is the key. He is the key to your future, and the key to the door to light. Accompany him, and you will find the answer to help save your friend." he explained. She was silent as she thought about it. She had heard his name before from both Xion and Roxas, and didn't know much about him. But what else could she do? Nodding, she wrote her answer.

**I understand, then I'll accompany him. **

"Very well. Keep and eye on him, for he may start to stray from his path. Since you are a being of light, I can trust that you can keep an eye on him." he spoke. She nodded before he pointed to the door.

"He will not be here for some time, so you may take a look around." he explained. She nodded as she got to her feet, but then she stopped. She opened her notebook and wrote something down.

**Master Yen Sid, tell me…why do you know so much about me? Can you tell me more, like why I lost my memories? And where my grandfather is? **

He was silent as he stared at her, before looking out his window. He gazed at the stars for a moment before turning to her.

"The stars told me many things about you, but as for why you lost your memories and where your grandfather is, they cannot say. The stars cannot tell me everything." he answered. She was silent before smiling at him and walked out of the room. Yen Sid watched her go, one thought passing through his mind.

"_The light has returned at last, but I did not think it would take such a form. But now I wonder…how will the worlds fare now that it has appeared? Will the darkness consume them, or will she protect them?"_

He was silent as he pondered this, before a small smile graced his features. All would be fine, destiny was a strange thing, always changing, always intertwining. The girl would be fine.

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><p><strong>Yes, I know this is probably a first boring chapter, but it'll get better, trust me. And yes, Sora will be making an appearance very shortly.<strong>

**Sora: Whoo-Hoo! I'm finally going to show up! I thought you were never going to have me appear in your story.**

**Me: Aw, don't worry Sora. The only reason you couldn't appear in "Shattered Souls" was because you were asleep in a pod for a year!**

**Sora:...**

**Goofy: Gawrsh Sora, she got ya there. *turns to the audience* Please read an' review, the author-lady seems to like 'em a whole lot.**


	2. Meeting the Keyblade Bearer

**Okay guys, here's chapter two! The first two chapters...maybe three...may seem a little slow, but that's because I'm limiting my typing to a certain amount of pages. (for saving reasons, of course) So just bear with me, and I apologize. Anyways, enjoy!**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**KH Characters (c) Square Enix**

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><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 2

Kyrie was silent as she wandered the grounds, taking in the sights around her. The sky was a mixture between night and twilight, the stars twinkling beautifully at the unusual unison. The wind blew gently, making the leaves in the trees rustle and the fallen ones dance around her.

Truly, this was a peaceful place. Despite the mysterious aura that hung around it. She stood there silently, before she heard a loud voice.

"Alright, now where's that old Yen Sid? Hm…this's the tower he lives in…" she perked at the voice and followed it. Hiding behind the bushes, she watched as what looked like a giant black-furred creature dressed in blue and red clothing approach the tower entrance. He stared at it for a moment before snapping his fingers, a large group of shadows and soldiers appearing by his side instantly. She stiffened.

"_Heartless!" _she thought as she watched, her eyes narrowing. What was he doing controlling such a horde? He stared at the group before pointing to the tower.

"Inside this here tower's a master, you lot go and turn him into a heartless! Don't come back until ya do!" he ordered. And with that, the shadows slunk into the ground and the soldiers disappeared. With his cronies gone, the creature turned back and opened the door slightly, peeking into it. She was silent as she pondered whether or not to go and help Master Yen Sid, but decided against it. He was very powerful, no shadow or solider could take him down.

"_Master Yen Sid is strong, he can take them down." _she thought adamantly. But before she could move, she heard more voices.

"There goes our ride…" she turned and watched as a boy with brown, spiky hair, a white-feathered duck, and a large dog-like creature approached the tower. She stiffened, the boy looked like Xion before she and Roxas fought. Was this…Sora?

"_Is he Sora?" _But…he looked different, older…she silently giggled when she looked at his clothes, they looked too small for him. The duck and the dog wore clothes too, but at least they actually fit them. She watched as they walked around, looking at the sights in awe. It must've been their first time coming here.

"_Is this the group I'm supposed to be traveling with? If so…they don't…look very reliable." _she thought with another silent giggle. It didn't matter though, they seemed like nice people, er…creatures. They talked to each other as they approached the entrance, before taking notice of the creature peeking through the door. She watched as they looked at each other before looking at the creature.

"What's goin' on?" the duck asked, his accent strange. The creature laughed as he continued peeking, not even bothering to look at the person who asked him.

"I sent some of my lackeys inside to see if the master of this here tower's as big and tough as they say." he answered, clenching his large fist.

"Word is, he's a real powerful sorcerer. Which would make him the perfect bodyguard for me. See, it don't matter how tough he is- once he's a heartless, he'll do as I say!" he continued. The boys got into a stance as the duck quacked.

"A heartless?" he quacked. The creature nodded.

"That's right. They're those things that come outta the darkness in folk's hearts. Why, with all those heartless at her side, my dear friend Maleficent is gonna conquer everything!" he answered. The boys relaxed themselves as he continued.

"And since I've got me a dept to pay, I'm goin' 'round a bunch of different worlds and buildin' an army of heartless, special for her." he finished. He paused for a second, before she started waving them off. She silently giggled, he still hadn't turned his back to even look at who was talking to him.

"Why am I talkin' to you pipsqueaks anyway? Go on, scram! I'm behind schedule as it is." the group was quiet before the dog spoke up.

"Ya oughta find somethin' nicer to do." he spoke, clearly not bothered by the creature's claims of conquering the worlds. At this, the creature turned.

"Says who?" he stopped, his eyes widening as he stared at them.

"Wha…AAAH! It's you!" he growled. The duck and the dog gasped.

"Pete!" they cried. The boy, who she assumed to be Sora, looked at them in confusion. The creature, Pete, pointed at them.

"What are you two nimrods doin' here!"

"What are YOU doing here?" the duck quacked. Sora looked at them.

"You know him?" he asked. The dog nodded.

"We sure do! Pete's been causin' trouble for ages! His majesty banished him to another dimension a long time ago. I wonder how he escaped." he explained. She was silent as she watched the spectacle, should she intervene? Pete laughed evilly.

"You wanna know how, eh? Well, Maleficent busted me out, that's how! And now your world- no, no, no all the worlds- are gonna belong to yours truly. Cause Maleficent's gonna help me conquer 'em!" he gloated. Sora smiled as he turned to his companions.

"Maleficent…huh." and with that, the three laughed. Pete looked confused by their laughter, and glared at them.

"What are you laughing at? Why, Maleficent's power is so great-"

"She's toast." Sora interrupted, a grin on his face. Pete gasped in confusion.

"Sorry, but Maleficent can't help ya now." the dog added. He growled.

"Whaddya mean?" he was silent for a moment, before pointing at them again.

"YOU! So you're the ones that did it!" he said accusingly. Sora smiled as he held his hands behind his head.

"Well…we mighta had something to do with it." he grinned. Pete growled.

"Heartless squad! Round up!" and immediately, shadows surrounded them. Sora summoned a keyblade while the dog grabbed a shield and the duck a strange-looking staff. She was silent before summoning her white keyblade, one was all that was needed since they were dealing with shadows, and jumped out of the bushes. She jumped over the steps and landed right on Pete's head, before slamming him face-first into the ground and going after Sora.

Pete looked at her and shouted something, but she paid him no mind and dove in to help Sora as the shadows surrounded him. She brought her keyblade down and knocked three out of the way instantly, joining him as he fought.

"Thanks!" he gasped before continuing. She only nodded in acknowledgement before turning her attention back to the shadows. In a matter of minutes, the shadows were gone. Pete growled as he threw a tantrum.

"You just wait! Nobody, and I mean nobody, messes with the mighty Pete!" he growled. Sora smirked as the duck and dog joined him, taking notice of the white-haired girl that stood at his side.

"So, "mighty" Pete, who lives in this tower, anyway?" he asked. Pete deadpanned.

"Oh, ya don't know, eh? Well, it's old Yen Sid. 'Course, he's probably a heartless by now!" he answered.

"Master Yen Sid lives here?" the duck gasped as he ran to the door. They watched as he walked in before the dog started to explain.

"Yen Sid is the King's teacher!" he explained. Sora stared at the doors in awe.

"Wow. Sounds powerful!" he gasped. And with that, they followed after their companion. Kyrie was silent before glancing at Pete as he threw a tantrum, probably pissed that he was completely ignored. Pete stopped for a moment and stared at her, engaging her in a sort of staring contest.

"_Why's she starin' at me anyways? And that look…" _he thought as he stared. She broke contact and followed after the boys, obviously not caring about his presence anymore. He growled.

"_Somethin' ain't right about that girl…"_

-Inside the Tower-

Kyrie ran in to meet Sora and his companions as they stood at the bottom of the stairs, talking to each other. But when Sora noticed her, he turned and smiled.

"Hey, thanks for helping us out back there." he spoke gratefully. She smiled and gave a small bow, confusing his companions. But Sora paid no mind to them, and continued.

"Anyways, my name's Sora." he started, but stopped when the duck came up from behind him.

"I'm Donald!" the dog joined in as well as he stood on the opposite side of the duck- er…Donald.

"And I'm Goofy!" he added. She smiled at the two before Sora spoke again.

"Anyways, what's your name?" he asked. She was silent before opening her backpack and pulling out her notebook and pen. Aware of the curious glances they were giving her, she opened it and wrote her name down.

**Hello Sora, Donald, Goofy. My name is Kyrie, and it's a pleasure to meet you.**

The three read her message before raising their eyebrows.

"Oh, it's nice to meet you, Kyrie." he answered. Donald eyed her suspiciously before he spoke up.

"Hey…why're using a notebook? It's-" he was stopped by Goofy, who placed a hand on his head.

"Now, Donald." he warned. Then he turned to her and smiled.

"What he means is, why do you use a notebook? Can't you talk?" he asked, obviously correcting Donald. She was silent before writing more.

**I can't. I'm mute.**

"Mute? What's that?" Sora asked. Donald scolded him.

"Sora! Mute is when a person can't talk at all!" he scolded. Sora chuckled embarrassingly as he held his arms behind his head. She nodded before writing more.

**Come, I'll take you to see Master Yen Sid. You're here to meet with him, are you not?**

The trio nodded.

"Okay then, lead the way!" Sora urged. She smiled and nodded as they began their ascent, walking up the stairs and walking into rooms. But what she didn't expect were that heartless had swarmed each room. By the time they got pass the second room, Donald had began a heated rant.

"Heartless, Heartless, Heartless! Things haven't changed one bit!" he growled as he crossed his arms and tapped his webbed foot. Goofy turned to Sora as Kyrie tried to calm down the frustrated duck.

"Well, it's a good thing we're on the job, then." he spoke. Sora frowned at this.

"So the worlds aren't at peace after all?" he asked. Kyrie was silent before grabbing his arm and giving it a tug, pointing at the door to the next floor. This grabbed his attention.

"We can ask Master Yen Sid when we get there." Goofy suggested. She nodded and the four continued on, taking out a few shadows and soldiers along the way. When they finally made it to the Wizard's loft, Kyrie stepped aside and motioned to the door, allowing them to walk past her and inside. As soon as they were inside, she walked in and closed the door as Donald and Goofy stood straight at attention. Sora was looking around casually, his hands behind his head as he did so. After a moment, they bowed, making Sora stare at them curiously before raising his head and staring at the old man at the large desk.

"Master Yen Sid! It's an honor."

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><p><strong>Yeah, a real crappy way to end it. But if I didn't stop, I would've kept going! ...Right, I'll just be quiet.<strong>

**Axel: Quit yapping and get writing, when am I gonna appear dammt?**

**Me: Oh be quiet you! You'll show up soon enough, keep your pants on!**

**Axel: Hey, YOU'RE the one who cut me out in the first place, I never even got to kiss her!**

**Me: Actually, yes you did. But it was unintentional. Remember the CPR?**

**Axel:...*blushes* That still doesn't count! I was giving her mouth-to-mouth.**

**Me: And what do you think kissing is, ?**

**Kyrie: ...*pulls out her notebook and writes* **Ignore these two. This is normal, for them. Please hang in there, and read and review!


	3. Seeing them Off

**Okay, here's chapter 3! ...And there's actually some action in this one. Whoo! But I am in a writer's block, so this was a pain in the ass to write! **

**Warning: There is a huge skip of a very long and annoying speech ahead. Don't like, don't read.**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters (c) Square Enix**

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><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 3

"Master Yen Sid! It's an honor!" Donald spoke as he and Goofy bowed to the old man in front of them. He nodded at them in acknowledgement. Sora, unaware at the mannerisms that they were showing, stepped forward and casually waved.

"Hey there!" he smiled. Donald and Goofy jumped at his rudeness, before Donald went on to scold him like a mother would to a child.

"Sora! Show some respect!" he berated. Sora blushed a little and chuckled in embarrassment, while Kyrie silently giggled at the three. They could make a great comedy team, if they wanted to. She turned and looked around as they talked, her thoughts wandering.

"_This "King" that they keep mentioning…I wonder who he is…" _Suddenly she could hear a rattling at the door, making the wise sorcerer sigh as the group looked at the door.

"Ah, the heartless are very persistent. No doubt because two keyblade masters and a pure heart are here. Kyrie, would you go and keep them at bay? I have things to discuss with these three." Kyrie nodded, making Sora turn to the old sorcerer in shock.

"You're making Kyrie fight heartless by herself? But what if she gets hurt!" he protested. Master Yen Sid gave the boy a stern frown.

"Do not worry. She will be fine. Kyrie came to me just recently, having no memories of her past or birth world. But she is an excellent fighter, nevertheless. You must trust her, Sora, for she will accompany you three on your journey." he explained. Kyrie stared at him with wide eyes, she didn't think that he would actually lie and cover for her.

While the losing memories part was true, she had expected for him to rat her out and tell them that she was-well, maybe not anymore-with the organization. The boys turned to her.

"You lost your memories?" Sora asked. Kyrie gave a nod before the rattling at the door worsened. Yen Sid turned to them.

"Please allow her to go and take care of them. There is much that we have to discuss, we mustn't dally." he explained. The trio nodded as Kyrie summoned her white kingdom key and opened the door, seeing that Soldiers and Shadows littered the place. Closing the door behind her, she began her attack.

Going after the soldiers first, she jumped into the air and parried their attacks with the keyblade, and roundhouse kicked them away with her legs. Using the stairs to her advantage, she managed to trip some of them, bringing the keyblade down on their heads and destroying them instantly. But with the shadows, it was a bit trickier.

They also began to use the stairs to their advantage, because they could slink along the floor and steps making it difficult to destroy them. Kyrie growled inwardly when a shadow that she had been going after for a few minutes phased into the ground again, making a loud "clang!" as her keyblade slammed against the floor.

"_Damn, these things are little cheats!" _she thought. Then an idea came to her.

"_Wait, shadows can leap into the air too, but once when their pray is completely still. If I can do that…" _stopping all movement, she waited as the shadows gathered, before they surfaced and leaped. Their target, her chest. Quickly summoning her Lost Memory keyblade, she began twirling like a fan and destroying the shadows like a fan's blades. Once she was done, she allowed herself a breather and waited to see if more would show up.

She sat against the door and slumped to the floor, slinging her backpack off her back as she looked at the contents inside.

All of her belongings were in there, from her sketchbook and art utensils to the picture of her younger self and the doll DiZ had given her. She felt her heart give a throb of pain as she stared at the contents, it was making her a little…homesick.

She missed the Castle that Never Was, as odd as it may sound. She missed Demyx, Xigbar, Roxas, Xion, and…Axel. She even missed the missions Saix made her go on.

But out of all of that, it was Axel she missed the most. The reason was obvious, he was her best friend. But something inside her, a part she didn't know and couldn't explain, told it that wasn't the reason.

She missed his voice, his eyes, the way he would ruffle her hair and mess it up…she missed all of it. All of him.

"_Axel…why?" _she thought as she buried her face into her arms. She was fighting to hold back her tears. Axel had abandoned her, he didn't want her around anymore. It was as simple as that. After a few minutes of sitting in silence, she wiped the tears out of her eyes and stood, satisfied that no more heartless were showing up. Opening the door, she walked inside just as Yen Sid finished talking to the three.

"Through there, you'll find three good fairies. If you ask, they'll create for you appropriate garments. Those seem a bit too small for you." He explained. Donald and Goofy laughed at this, and he laughed in embarrassment. With that, they turned and walked through the door. Once they were gone, Yen Sid turned to her.

"Kyrie, I want you to keep a close eye on those three. They are fair fighters, but they may stray from their journey. I need you to make sure that they stay on the right path. In return, I will try to find the reason why you are here, and for what purpose." he explained. She nodded as she wrote in her notebook.

**Of course, Master Yen Sid. I will accompany them and try to keep them on the right path. But also…could you maybe…try and find a way to save my friend? I want that more than anything else in the whole world. Even more than a reason for why I'm here and what I'm supposed to do.**

He was silent as he read this, before he nodded.

"Very well, I will try." the sound of a door opening and closing turned their attention to Sora, Donald, and Goofy as they entered the room. Kyrie stared at Sora's new clothes, impressed at the style and the black, red, and yellow color-scheme of his attire. Immediately the sound of an engine turned their attention to the window, where an orange and yellow ship hovered just outside. She stared at it, she had never seen a ship like this. Donald smiled happily.

"Hey! It's the Gummi Ship!" he smiled. Sora nodded and pumped a fist before turning to Donald, Goofy, and Kyrie.

"So you guys ready to go?" he asked. They nodded as he, Donald, and Goofy stood at attention, before Yen Sid motioned for them to wait.

"Now, now, just a moment." The three of them slumped and she giggled silently before he continued.

"Because of your previous endeavors, the worlds have returned to their original states. That means the pathways between them have disappeared." They seemed to have slumped even further and Donald sighed.

"How do we get around?" he asked. Kyrie turned and walked to the window, staring at the ship as Yen Sid explained to the trio how they would be able to get around. Kyrie had her own ways of transportation, but she promised the old master that she would stay with the three.

And she always kept her promises.

"Now then, that's all the information I can give you. Go forth, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Kyrie. Everyone is waiting." He finished. Sora nodded and turned to them.

"Okay, let's get going!" The four nodded before Sora, Donald, and Goofy got back in line and stood at attention. Kyrie smiled and rolled her eyes, they were a funny bunch, she had to give them that. Yen Sid was silent before looking at her.

"But one more thing, Sora," he started. Sora slumped again before Yen Sid lightly pushed Kyrie forward, with her looking in between them in confusion.

"Since you now have the power to wield more than one keyblade, I am placing Kyrie as your mentor in showing you how to properly wield two keyblades in combat." he explained. Sora raised an eyebrow at her.

"Two keyblades? But Kyrie only has one!" he exclaimed. She glared at him before holding her hands out, summoning her white Kingdom Key and Lost Memory keyblade instantly. He gasped and raised his hands in surrender, taking a few steps back.

"Hey! You couldn't do that before!" he pouted. She smiled sweetly at him before Yen Sid spoke.

"Do not underestimate your allies, Sora. Kyrie has many unlocked secrets inside her, and it is up to both you and her to unlock them." he explained. Sora was silent before getting back in line and standing at attention…again.

"Master Yen Sid!" Donald spoke as they saluted him.

"We sure do appreciate the help." Goofy finished and with that, they were off. Kyrie watched them go before turning to Yen Sid and giving him a smile, before following after her new companions.

-The Gummi Ship-

Kyrie looked around the interior of the ship with wide eyes. It was spacious, with a kitchen, a place for the occupants to sleep, and even two bathrooms! She spotted at least a couple of extra chairs aside from the ones centered in front of the monitors and steering wheel, and decided to check out the sleeping quarters.

When she got back out, Sora was sighing as he and Donald stared at a map.

"Only one?" he asked. Donald nodded and he sighed, slumping into his chair. Kyrie smiled as they took off, leaving behind the mysterious tower and Twilight town. But after a few minutes, she found herself bored. There wasn't much to do in the ship, besides sleeping and gazing out into the stars. She gave a bored sigh before an idea popped into her head.

"_Maybe I can draw. It would relieve some of the boredom…" _at this thought she walked over and stood in front of Sora's chair, making the boy look at her curiously.

"Huh? What's up?" he asked. She gave a small smile as she pulled out her sketchbook and notebook, before writing in the notebook.

**May I sketch you? It helps pass the time on long trips like these. And Donald and Goofy, I would like to sketch you both as well.**

Sora immediately grinned as well as Donald and Goofy when he relayed the message to them.

"You can draw? Can I see some?" he asked. She blushed a little and nodded, but she had to be careful. She couldn't show him and sketches of Axel, Roxas, Xion, Demyx, Xigbar, or any of the other members she had sketched. Flipping open the pages, she showed him the ones of Twilight town, Hollow Bastion, and all of the other worlds she had visited. He smiled.

"Wow…I've been to a lot of these worlds. How long were you by yourself before you met Master Yen Sid?" he asked. She was silent, how long had it been since she had awaken in Twilight town?

"_I think a year…but it seemed like forever ago. Especially since I had Axel, Roxas, Xion, Demyx, and Xigbar to keep me company…" _she shook her head to clear away her thoughts before writing.

**About a year, I think. I really don't know.**

He nodded.

"That must've been lonely…" he mumbled. She gave a small nod, but she hadn't been alone. She had Axel, Roxas, Xion, and the organization. Sure, only a small number of them liked her, but at least she had a place to stay and wasn't alone. Sora gave a little cough, snapping her out of her thoughts as she looked at him.

"So…how did you lose your memories?" he asked. Goofy and Donald joined him, after Donald set the controls to auto-pilot of course. Kyrie was silent before writing.

**One day, I just woke up in Twilight town, not knowing who I was or even my name. I found the sketchbook with the name "Kyrie" on it in the backpack I was carrying, so I assumed it was my name. Ever since then, I've been searching for clues about myself.**

The three nodded at this before she held up her sketchbook, clearly done with the back-story and eager to draw. This made Sora grin.

"Okay, you can draw me. But just don't make me have a goofy face, okay?"

-Later-

After a long while of sketching, Sora, Donald, and Goofy, the three were pleased with the results and decided to leave her alone. Especially since they kept bugging her about what she could remember about her past. Kyrie stared out into the universe, a small frown on her face as she did so.

Would she ever see Axel again? Or would he fade before they even get the chance to see each other?

She stared off into the universe and placed a single hand over her heart.

"_I want to see you." _

* * *

><p><strong>Yes, this is the end of chapter three. I am currently in the middle of a writer's block, because I'm not sure which way I should go forward with this story. I need YOU, the awesome fans and reviewers, to state your opinions and help my sorry butt out. Because if you don't, I don't know WHEN the newest chapter will come out.<strong>

**I can go one of two ways with this story. I can go 80-90% with the story up until the big fight at Hollow Bastion (when Sora meets Xemnas and Axel), which means most of the story until that point will be almost the same as with the game. (with a few edits here and there, since there's a few things about Kyrie she herself doesn't know...)**

**OR...I can go 70-85% with the game and skip parts which I think are boring. (like Yen Sid's big speech for example. I can't tell you how many times I had to listen to his speech every time I start a new game. It. Gets. Annoying...) But of course, there are only a few parts in the game that I actually find boring. Atlantica for example. Plus Timeless River, and even some of Tron's world. (don't hate.)**

**So the choice is YOURS, guys. Just say whichever one you like, in whatever form you like. And I mean either numbers or "The first one" "The second one". **

**Also, I apologize for this long speech and the fact that this chapter sucks. (depending on who reads it) so I'm sorry. It's hard to write with a writer's block, BELIEVE ME...anyways...**

**Please read and review.**


	4. Hollow Bastion, Leon's Gang

**Alrightie folks, thank you all for your wonderful inputs on the topic of last chapter, the 80-90% story and 70-85% story. But now I have made my final ruling-**

**Axel: When did this become a trial?**

**Me:...Since now. Now my final ruling is-**

**Vexen: That you shall bring me back so I can- *gets hit with a frying pan***

**Me: *holding frying pan* Anyone else wanting to interrupt?**

**Organization XIII- *Silence***

**Me: That's better. Now my final ruling is this, While I am going to stay 80-90% with certain events and dialog, but overall with the story I'm going to stay 70-85%. This means a few places will be cut out (A.K.A not explored by Kyrie), and a few events will be added. Plus a few other changes.**

**Axel: Does this mean you won't kill me off like they did in KH2?**

**Me:...THAT...would be spoiling. You'll just have to wait and see.**

**Axel: Dammit! So you ARE going to kill me off!**

**Me: I won't say. Ta-Ta!**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**KH Characters (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 4

Axel was quiet as he sat on his bed, staring at his gloved hands. The dried blood that stained his gloves cracked as he clenched and unclenched them, reminding him of the owner of the blood.

"_Kyrie…" _he thought as he stared at his hands. Kyrie's face would not leave his mind, not that he wanted it to. He never thought anything like this would happen, but he actually felt like he was pain. And stranger still, was the place the pain was emanating from.

From his chest, right where his heart would've been. Ever since he pushed her through that portal and hid Namine in the castle, he has been in constant pain. How or why, he wasn't really sure. But he did know one thing.

Losing her hurt so much more than when he lost Roxas.

Heaving a sigh, he fell back on the bed and laid out, staring at the ceiling.

What was he going to do?

-Kyrie and Sora-

Kyrie stared out the ship's windows as they started to land, staring at the world with amazed eyes. They were in Hollow Bastion! She paused, the world was also called the Radiant Garden, but which name was valid? She shrugged her shoulders.

"_I'll call it Hollow Bastion for now, since that's what everyone else calls it." _she decided. As soon as they landed, Sora, Donald, and Goofy rushed off the ship to explore while Kyrie shook her head, were they always this excited?

When they got off, they walked over to a set of stairs that led to the marketplace, the boys staring at the ruins of a castle with curious eyes. Kyrie stared too, she had never seen these ruins before. But then again, she had only been to the marketplace once and that was for a short time.

"It's Hollow Bastion!" Sora exclaimed. Donald and Goofy nodded as they stared at the castle remains. Goofy took a quick look around before adding his own opinion.

"Gawrsh, it looks kinda different now." he added. Sora and Donald nodded before they looked off towards the marketplace.

"I hope Leon and the gang are doing okay." Donald spoke out of the blue, clearly concerned for the well-being of their friends. Kyrie's eyes widened, they knew Leon and the others?

"_So I guess that means we're probably gonna see them…oh great. Once they see me they're probably going to ask a lot of stupid questions." _she thought, rolling her eyes. Immediately, a type of clanging sound caught her attention and she turned, spotting two soldiers on top of one of the buildings. Goofy followed her gaze and spotted the heartless before they warped.

"Uh-oh. Looks like we're gonna have to do some fightin'." he spoke. Kyrie nodded in agreement before they turned to Sora. He grinned.

"Let's look around!" he smiled. Donald and Goofy nodded while Kyrie silently giggled, his personality was definitely a handful. But his happiness was contagious and she found herself smiling as well as they walked through the marketplace.

"Mama, Papa, look I'm a swordsman!" she turned and spotted a little boy as he ran around a man and a woman, swinging a wooden sword as he puffed his face.

"Whack! Bam! Splat! Those heartless are dead!" he cried as he ran. Suddenly, the man reached down and grabbed his son by the waist, lifting him high over his head as the boy laughed.

"Ha ha, yes they are, son. You'll make a fine swordsman one day."

"Just like Leon?"

"Just like Leon." Kyrie watched as the happy family walked away, the little boy on his father's shoulders while the woman, his mother, had her arms wrapped around her husband's free arm. She smiled.

"_What a happy family…" _she thought as she watched them. Then she frowned.

"_I wonder…where are my parents' graves?" _she thought. Suddenly, she felt a throb of pain in her head, making her grunt as she placed her hands against her head.

"_**Mommy, Daddy, where are you?" **_a child's voice screamed, and she recognized this voice. It was her voice, from when she was younger. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to meet Sora's gaze.

"Hey, you okay? Does your head hurt?" he asked. She shook her head and lowered her arms, she couldn't worry him. She had done that enough with Roxas, Xion, and Axel. There was no way she was going to tell him something was wrong. He nodded.

"Oh, okay. C'mon, Donald and Goofy are leaving us behind!" and with that, her grabbed her hand and dragged her as he tried to catch up with them. The four looked around at all of the wares the market had to offer, before they moved on to the Borough.

The second they stepped in, however, a beam of light shot up and startled them, coming a bit too close to Donald's liking.

"Hey, what's going on?" he quacked. Kyrie walked forward and stared at the beam of light as it formed into a sphere and disappeared, then it reappeared and continued what it was doing.

"That's the town's defense mechanism." a young female voice spoke. They looked around before spotting the owner of the voice above them, it was Yuffie!

"Yuffie!" Sora exclaimed excitedly. She smiled at them before gasping as she pointed. "Look out!" she called.

Suddenly, a Dusk appeared out of nowhere and came after him, forcing him to summon his keyblade and pushed it back. Kyrie summoned her keyblades as well as a Samurai came after her, swords drawn. Donald and Goofy were caught in a match of their own as Dusks appeared left and right.

But surprisingly, the Dusks and Samurais weren't very strong. They had taken the horde down in mere minutes, Sora getting a few scratches and Kyrie getting a few bruises in the process. Once they were gone, they looked back up as Yuffie waved.

"Hey, you guys!" she called. With that, she jumped down and landed on her feet and brushed her shorts a little. Kyrie stepped back and hid behind Goofy, hoping Yuffie hadn't noticed her.

"I see you're still in top form." she complimented. Kyrie heaved a soft sigh, Yuffie hadn't noticed her. Goofy stared over his shoulder at her in curiosity before shrugging it off, he wasn't one to pry in other's business.

"_Gawrsh, wonder why she's hidin'…?" _he thought as he stared. For the small amount of time that they've known each other, Kyrie wasn't exactly the shy type. But she wasn't bold either, she was caring, considerate, and looked out for all of them. He turned his attention back onto Sora as be continued their conversation.

"Hey, Yuffie. Have you seen the King and Riku?" he asked. She shook her head as she started walking, making Kyrie peek out from behind Goofy's shoulder.

"Nope." she answered. Kyrie was silent, as Yuffie ran ahead before turning and yelling back at them. "But I had a feeling I'd see you guys again!" she called. Sora smiled before placing a hand in front of his face.

"We may never meet again, but we'll never forget each other." he spoke in a deep voice, making Kyrie smile at how weird he sounded. It looked like he was trying to impersonate Leon. Yuffie pointed at him.

"Is that suppose to be Leon?" she asked. Donald and Goofy looked at each other before laughing, making the rest of the group laugh as well. Yuffie started to run ahead again before she turned her head to the boys. It looked like she hadn't noticed Kyrie, making the girl sigh in relief.

"Everybody's working on stuff over at Merlin's house. C'mon!" she called, running and disappearing behind a corner. The four nodded as they followed after her, Kyrie staying behind Goofy the entire time. She knew the moment Leon's group spotted her, there would be a lot of questions, the biggest question would be about her loyalties. The question she herself couldn't find an answer to.

But she did know one thing. Sora is innocent in all of this, and she didn't want to see the boy get hurt. But he reminded her of someone. But she couldn't place it.

"_Who does he remind me of…?" _she thought as they walked.

When they got to Merlin's house, the door was wide open so they let themselves in. Leon, Aerith, and Cid were at the computer as he typed furiously, the other two watching as he did so. Kyrie stayed behind Goofy the entire time, only peeking over his shoulder when she wanted to see. Yuffie smiled as she greeted them.

"Meet the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee!" she exclaimed. Aerith turned around and smiled at the group.

"We missed you!" she spoke happily. Cid was the next to turn as he thumbed his nose, what looked like either a long stick or some type of long toothpick in his mouth.

"Well, if you ain't in top shape." he spoke. Leon turned and gave a small smile as he crossed his arms.

"I knew it." Yuffie, Sora, and Donald walked further into the room, with only Goofy and Kyrie staying closer to the wall. Goofy looked over his shoulder at the young girl, motioning if it was okay to proceed. Kyrie gave a slight nod, making the dog smile as he walked further in. Kyrie stayed in the back, staying completely still as she watched them.

"Knew what?" Sora asked. Leon uncrossed his arms and stared at the boy.

"A while back, everyone suddenly remembered you guys, all at the same time." he explained. The boys jumped back in surprise, before narrowing their eyes. This made Kyrie giggle silently.

"_I take it they're not too pleased about this." _she thought as she watched them.

"You… remembered? Wait! Does that mean you forgot about us?" he asked. Donald rolled his eyes.

"Thanks!" he said sarcastically. Yuffie smiled as she placed her hands on her hips.

"So where've you guys been all this time?" she asked. They looked at each other embarrassingly before Goofy answered.

"We were sleepin'." he answered. The group looked at each other, eyebrows raised.

"Where? In cold storage?" he spoke, shaking his head. The three chuckled in embarrassment before Aerith shook her head.

"It doesn't matter. This is great. Everyone's together again." she spoke happily. But that's when she noticed the white-haired girl standing at the far end of the room. Her eyes widened when she recognized her. "Kyrie?"

All heads snapped to where the girl was standing, making Kyrie nervous as she raised a hand and tentatively waved. Yuffie gasped.

"Kyrie! How long have you been standing there? Wait, no, forget that. It's great to see you!" she cried as she flung herself at the girl, hugging her tightly. The two fell to the ground in a heap while Kyrie was trying to find a way to regain some composure. Aerith smiled as well while Leon and Cid eyed her suspiciously. Sora, Donald, and Goofy looked back and forth, not quite sure what to make of it.

"Wait, you guys know Kyrie?" he asked. They nodded as Kyrie and Yuffie got back to their feet.

"Yes. A while back, before we remembered you, Kyrie had been hurt and we found her. After that, when Yuffie and I went to the marketplace, she disappeared." Aerith explained. The trio nodded before Leon spoke up.

"That's another thing. Why did you disappear without any warning? That's pretty suspicious if you ask me." Leon questioned. She blushed a little and before she could speak, Sora stepped in.

"Hey, you can trust Kyrie! She hasn't done anything to hurt anyone, she actually saved me one time. So c'mon, give her a chance!" he defended. She walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder, making him stop as she shook her head. With that, she pulled out her notebook and began to write.

**I'm sorry for my sudden disappearance, but something came up and I had to leave. I'm sorry for not saying goodbye, but it was sudden and beyond my control.**

They were silent as they read this, before Leon have in.

"Alright, fine." he spoke, but she could tell he still didn't trust her. All was quiet for a moment before Sora took this opportunity to speak.

"Hey, we're trying to find Riku and the King. Have you seen 'em?" he asked. The three shook their heads and he gave a quiet sigh.

"Right." he spoke sadly. Aerith looked at the boy sympathetically.

"Sorry. But let us know if there's anything we can do to help. Okay?" she spoke kindly. He nodded.

"Okay. Thanks." immediately Cid was in Sora's face, wringing his hands and making Sora back up.

"Don't go thanking us just yet." he spoke. Sora eyed him in confusion before Leon spoke up.

"Hollow Bastion's got a problem. A big problem." he explained. They nodded as he explained, Kyrie not really paying attention. She was concerned about them and her previous home…but that's all it was.

Her previous home. She had hardly any ties to this place, except that somewhere, her parents graves were resting. But she was snapped out of her thoughts when Leon started leaving.

"Meet me at the Bailey. There's something you have to see." he spoke as he left. Without a second thought, she followed after him. Not even bothering to check and see if Sora and the others were following them.

But once they were at the Bailey, she realized that they weren't behind her. Just as she was about to go back for them, Leon stopped her.

"Don't worry. They'll catch up." he assured her. She reluctantly nodded as he walked over to a sort of sill and looked out. She followed him and looked out, shocked at what she saw. There was the remains of the castle they had first seen when they arrived, and around it was a sea of darkness. She pulled out her notebook and tugged on Leon's sleeve.

**Leon, what is that?**

"Those are heartless. They're drawn to those remains, because it was once used as a base by Maleficent and a few others." Leon explained. She nodded in understanding before she heard the distant sound of footsteps. Turning, she spotted Sora, Donald, and Goofy as they approached. Once they got close enough, Leon pointed to the ruins.

"Look at that." he spoke. Donald jumped up on the ledge and looked out, Sora and Goofy looking out as well.

"Whoa…" Sora gasped. Leon nodded before he continued.

"We want to restore Hollow Bastion to what it used to be. Who knows… maybe something better. There's still a lot to do, but I'm sure we can handle everything…" he paused in uncertainty.

"Except… for that…" he then pointed in a different direction, making them turn to see a group of Dusks as they approached the heartless army. "…and that."

"We'll handle 'em!" Sora exclaimed, obviously intent on helping his friends with their dire situation. Leon nodded and gave a small smirk.

"Well, that's good to hear. So Sora… do you know what's going on, then?" he asked. Sora and Kyrie nodded before he continued.

"There's this guy, Pete, who's been going around plotting with the Heartless. But he's not smart enough to tie his own shoes. The ones we need to worry about are the Nobodies." he explained. Kyrie nodded before Goofy added, "And those Organization XIII guys in charge, too!"

"You called?" everyone jumped and on impulse, Kyrie summoned both keyblades and jumped in front of Sora. She had made a promise to Yen Sid, and she had no intentions of breaking it. Sora and the others ran out, trying to discern the voice, but she knew exactly who it was. It was Xemnas.

"You're doing well." Another spoke. Her eyes narrowed, that was Saix. Sora summoned his keyblade.

"This calls for a celebration…" and instantly, they were surrounded by Dusks, Creepers, and Samurais. Kyrie was the first to run in and she brought her keyblades down on the nearest nobody, a dusk. Sora and Leon were right behind her, one with his keyblade and the other with a blade that resembled a gun.

"Donald, Goofy, close the gate! We can't let them get into the Borough!" Sora called. The two nodded as they ran ahead and closed the door, standing guard in front of it as they fought off any nobodies that neared. After taking out a dusk and a creeper at once, Kyrie turned and her eyes widened when she saw a samurai sneaking up on Sora, the boy too focused on the dusks in front of him to notice.

"_Oh no, Sora!" _she thought as she stared. She immediately ran in, pushing Sora out of the way just as the blades of the samurai came down.

* * *

><p><strong>Ha, finally! One of my famous cliff-hangers is back! ...Wait, that's not good. The readers are gonna torch me for sure!<strong>

**Axel: You better have Kyrie survive this, or I'll burn you to a crisp.**

**Roxas: Axel, please. *turns to the audience* Please don't kill the author, she won't finish her story if you do. Please read and review!**

**Me: Nicely done, Roxas! *starts running from Axel***


	5. Hiya Xigbar, Goodbye Hollow Bastion

**Hello my wonderful fans of this...uh...story? (sorry, I can't say anything good about the story 'cuz then I'd be arogant and conceited.)**

**Anyways, this chapter Xiggy shows up and I am going to have his dialog, because seriously, I think it's funny how he's a sarcastic asshole to Sora and the others. That, and Xigbar is just plain awesome. I mean, he sounds like an old surfer guy and wears an eyepatch! (or skateboard rider, which ever works) Who doesn't think that looks awesome? (don't answer that, it was a rehtorical question. And I know I spelled "rehtorical" wrong.)**

**Xigbar: Aw yeah, this chick digs me.**

**Axel: Hmph. At least she likes me more.**

**Xigbar: As if. The only reason she digs you is because you have red hair.**

**Axel: She does not! She likes that Grimmjow guy from BLEACH, and he has BLUE hair!**

**Grimmjow:...Who the f*ck are you people, and how the hell did I get dragged into this?**

**Me: Would you idiots be quiet! You're making asses of yourselves in front of the audience!**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**KH characters/some of the plot (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 5

_She immediately ran in, pushing Sora out of the way just as the blades of the samurai came down. _

Kyrie closed her eyes tightly as she waited for the blades to run her through, before a voice called out to her.

"**Princess, use the power of light. You can use it to protect yourself. For now, visualize a shield of pure light and one will form, if you believe." **it was the same disembodied voice from before. She quickly did as it asked, visualizing a shield of pure white surrounding herself, hoping with all of her heart that it would work.

"_No…I have to believe it will work. I believe…I believe…" _she thought. Suddenly, the loud clang of metal meeting metal sounded, and she opened her eyes. The blades of the samurai were stopped by a round shield of clear, bubble-like energy. She stared in amazement before shaking her head, now was not the time to gawk!

Taking her chance, she ran the samurai through before turning to find Sora, surprised that the shield had surrounded him as well. He stared at her.

"Whoa…how did you do that?" he asked. She scowled at him and pointed at the dusks that were gathering behind him, and he quickly got the picture. Fight now, ask later.

When the fight was finally over, Sora and Kyrie were panting but smiling, they had won. Sora quickly regained composure and ran outside, just as Xemnas spoke.

"The Keyblade… a truly marvelous weapon. Were it only in more … capable hands…" he paused for a moment, before looking at Kyrie.

"…like the hands of your companion." he continued. Sora growled as more voices joined in, laughing creepily. Kyrie could recognize Demyx, who was failing at the creepy laugh, Xigbar, Xaldin, Saix, Luxord, and Xemnas. But she didn't hear Axel, which made her worried.

"Show yourselves!" Sora shouted, obviously angry. In seconds, a single figure dressed in a black cloak appeared on a ledge and held his arms out, five others appearing behind him. Goofy and Donald came up from behind them, and Goofy gasped.

"Gawrsh, it's the organization!" he gasped. Sora looked at them and nodded before looking at the beings in black cloaks.

"Good! Now we can settle this!" he declared. Suddenly Kyrie was in front of him, her eyes narrowed and an angry aura enveloping her as she glared hatefully at the men. But it wasn't the group itself that she was focused on, it was Xemnas himself. He stared at her for a moment, before looking back at Sora.

"What a shame… and here I thought we could be friends." And with that, they disappeared, laughing as they did so. Donald jumped.

"Stop!" he shouted as he ran towards the stairs, with Sora and Goofy following behind. Suddenly a corridor appeared, making them stop as a figure stepped out. Kyrie couldn't tell who it was for a moment, but she knew it had to be either Luxord or Xigbar. Donald looked up at the ledge before looking back at the man.

"What's the big idea?" he quacked. The figure waved his arms, clueing Kyrie who the person was. She smiled.

"Oopsy-Daisy!" he spoke nonchalantly, in his usual surfer-accent. Sora glared at him, unaware that Kyrie was actually smiling at the hooded man.

"Move!" he ordered. The man sighed, like a mother would to a disobedient child.

"Now, do you think that's polite, shutting me down like that?" he asked sarcastically. Sora growled, not in the mood for games.

"I said get outta the way!" he ordered again. Xigbar crossed one of his arms, and Kyrie held back the urge to silently giggle. He was messing with him.

"As if! You can talk all you want, but that won't change a thing." He teased. They got into fighting stances as Donald brandished his mages staff.

"Then we're gonna make you move!" he threatened. At this, Xigbar crossed his other arm over his chest.

"See, that would work… if I were just any old dude. 'Cept I'm not. I'm with the Organization. Nothing 'any old' about me." He explained. Sora snorted, clearly not amused with the man's antics.

"Ha! Tough talk for someone who stood on the sidelines while his Nobody flunkeys did the fighting!" he shot back. He placed his hands on his hips and leaned forward. Kyrie shook her head, you could only go so far before you irritate Xigbar.

"Oh, dear. I think you got the wrong impression." He spoke, wagging his finger at Sora. The boy growled.

"You gonna cry?" he asked sarcastically. If a whip could be heard, Kyrie thought it would've sounded right then and there.

"_Poor Xigbar, he just got whipped." _she thought, giggling silently to herself. Xigbar merely waved his hand before placing it on his chest.

"As if! Why don't I remind you how tough the crowd you're dealing with really is?" he answered. Sora looked at him in confusion, as well as Kyrie.

"Remind me?" he asked. At this, Xigbar laughed.

"That's RIGHT, he used to give me the same exact look." He added. Kyrie stared at him in confusion.

"_Remind him? He? Who in the world is Xigbar talking about?" _she thought as she stared at him. Standing closer to him than the rest of the boys, she could see his face and he winked at her, giving her a smirk. She smiled right back, you could never stay mad at Xigbar for long. Then again, you couldn't stay mad at anyone who could crack a joke like he could.

Sora seemed to snap out of it before continuing to glare at him.

"I guess you think you can psych me out by saying really random stuff!" he exclaimed. Xigbar placed a hand on his chin before he leaned down a bit, in a tort of taunting stance. It was clearly directed at Sora, Donald, and Goofy. But strangely, he didn't direct any of his sarcasm, teasing, or taunting at Kyrie.

"Gee… I just don't know." Immediately a portal formed around him, consuming him in darkness.

"Be a good boy now! And Angel, keep an eye on him!" he called as he disappeared. Immediately Donald ran in, passing Kyrie as he did so.

"Wait!" he quacked as he dove, but the corridor disappeared just as he collided to the floor. He pouted as he lifted himself off the ground.

"Nuts! He got away!" he scowled. Sora looked at the spot where he was standing in confusion.

"That was weird. WHO gave him the same look?" he asked, first looking at Kyrie. She shrugged her shoulders, she had no idea who Xigbar had meant. Goofy turned to him, sensing the boy's confusion.

"Y'know, I think he was just trying to confuse ya." He suggested. Sora was silent before smiling and nodding.

"Yeah, you're right. Only one me!" he spoke, smiling as he did so. Kyrie smiled in agreement before Sora pulled out a purple card. Kyrie stared at it curiously, when did he get a card? Donald came over just as Leon appeared, and Sora flipped the card over and began reading it out loud.

"The Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee Honorary Member…" suddenly, a light flashed from it and it began to levitate towards the sky. Kyrie felt something inside her flutter at the light, as a type of keyhole appeared behind it. Sora pulled out his keyblade and a light shot from it and into the keyhole, the sound of something unlocking before the light faded away. Everyone stared at it for a moment before Sora turned to Leon.

"Sorry to run, Leon, but other worlds are calling." He apologized. Leon nodded and crossed his arms as he stared at the four.

"Organization XIII… They look tough. Be careful out there." He cautioned. They nodded.

"See ya soon." Sora called as he, Donald, and Goofy ran past him. Kyrie followed after them, giving Leon a small bow before departing. Leon watched the four go before turning and staring at the sky.

"_They'll be okay…hopefully."_

-The Gummi Ship-

As the ship soared through the expanse of the universe the four were seated in chairs since Goofy had decided to make lunch. While they were seated, Donald had set the controls to autopilot, so that he could enjoy the meal as well. As they waited, Sora decided to ask something that had been bothering him since the fight.

"Kyrie…how could you make a shield like that? And why did that guy in the black cloak call you "angel"?" he asked. She was silent, she really couldn't explain the shield thing. And Xigbar calling her angel would be even harder to explain. But she had to say…write something.

Without further ado, she grabbed her notebook and pen.

**Well, right when the samurai was about to run me through, a voice called out to me. It told me that I could use the power of light to make a shield, and how. I just had to visualize it, and believe that I could do it, and there. It formed.**

Sora and Donald read her words carefully and nodded.

"So this voice…what did it sound like?" he asked. She paused before writing.

**It's disembodied, that I know. Otherwise…I'm not sure.**

They nodded.

"Okay, so what about the nickname? Why'd he call you that?" he asked. She thought it over for a moment, before something came to her.

**I don't know why. Maybe he was trying to insult me.**

Donald nodded just as Goofy came in with their lunch.

"Yeah. That guy was a jerk!" he agreed. Goofy looked back and forth between them, confused at first, before setting the food down.

"Okay, lunch's ready!" he called. All conversation was done at the drop of a hat, while three sets of eyes eyed the food hungrily. So, for now, Kyrie was free of questions.

-Later-

Kyrie was silent as she stared out the windows of the ship, her gaze transfixed on the stars. Her eyes became heavy as she continued to stare at the stars, and she allowed herself to fall into the darkness of sleep.

-Dreamscape-

"_Run, Kairi!" _I opened my eyes and spotted little me and Kairi as they ran, shadows following closely behind. But little me…she was dragging something behind her.

It was a keyblade, a white one! The same one that I have!

"_Kyrie, what do we do?" _Kairi sobbed when they stopped, little me taking a protective stance in front of her. My younger self looked back at her before turning her attention on the heartless.

"_Go find your grandma, I'll keep these things distracted."_

"_But Kyrie-" _

"_Go, now! Before they catch you!" _younger me ordered. Kairi looked at her, me, apprehensively before nodding and running, not daring to look back. As she ran, my younger self ran at the shadows, the blade raised as her arms trembled, obvious that she was having a hard time handling the heavy blade.

The shadows formed and leaped at her, but she seemed to have used a toy sword before, because she was taking them out, despite the heaviness of the blade she now held. As soon as they were gone, she stood there, panting heavily.

"_**I have to…find Grandpa…Lea and…Ienzo and Isa…everyone…" **_I stiffened, she wasn't speaking then. Were these…her, my, thoughts? Without further delay, she ran back into the castle. I followed closely behind, watching as she either ran past or destroyed the heartless.

But just as we got to the hallway where she and Kairi were surrounded by heartless I don't know how long before, my body stopped. Darkness began to form at my feet and pulled me under, consuming me.

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><p><strong>Yes, with the whole shield thing...well...since Riku can make a shield of darkness, I figured Kyrie could make a shield of light. And about the whole "Goofy cooking lunch" thing...well, someone has to cook. Otherwise, they'd all starve! (and I'm not doing the whole "Women can cook" stereotype with Kyrie.)<strong>

**And I know last chapter some of you pointed out that Goofy was a little out of character. I apologize for that, and it may sound strange, but it is kinda hard to keep him in-character. Especially with that accent of his. So again, if any characters are OOC, I deeply apologize. For I am trying.**

**Oh, and before I forget, I am going on a short HIATUS because finals are coming up and being in college, I have to study my ass off to pass the course. So, see you all next time, and please...**

**Read and Review!**


	6. The Land of Dragons

**Hey guys, I'm back! ...For about maybe, a day. **

**Axel: Still on a HIATUS?**

**Me: Sorta. College, y'know?**

**Kyrie: *nods and writes* **But at least you're getting an education, that's all that matters.

**Me: Aw! Thanks!**

**Axel: *crosses arms* Whatever.**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom hearts characters/half of story (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 6

Kyrie awoke with a jolt as she sat up, panting heavily. Looking around, she spotted Sora and Goofy asleep in their chairs and Donald manning the controls. Standing up and walking over, she opened her notebook and tapped his shoulder.

"Huh?" he asked when he turned. She wrote in her notebook and held it out for him to see.

**Hello, Donald. Donald, how long have we been flying?**

"All night. Sora and Goofy went to sleep earlier, after I woke up. You've been asleep all night." he answered. She nodded before looking at the controls, then back to him.

**Would you like more rest? I could take the controls, if you want.**

Donald stared at her for a moment, not sure what to say.

"Do you know how to fly a Gummi ship?" he asked. She was silent before scratching the back of her head embarrassingly and shaking her head. Donald smiled.

"Well, I guess I can put it on autopilot and you can just watch to make sure nothing's wrong." he sighed. She smiled before the ship jolted, flinging Sora and Goofy out of their chairs and onto the floor.

"Ow!" Sora cried groggily, covering his face with his hands. Goofy was still asleep, his snores loud as he lay sprawled out on the floor. Donald looked at the screen before looking at the startled group behind him.

"We're here!" he called. Kyrie nodded as she helped Sora to his feet, before going over to wake up Goofy. After a few shakes, she decided to get a glass of water and pour it on his face, making him yelp.

"Whahaa!" he cried as he jumped to his feet. Sora and Donald started laughing, while Kyrie giggled silently. After a few minutes, the group approached the screen to see the world they were about to land on.

"It's called "The Land of Dragons"."

-10 Minutes Later-

After everyone had gotten off of the ship, it was time to explore. Kyrie stared at the tall bamboo shoots what surrounded her, turning the forest of bamboo into a grove. There was a dirt path that led into the grove, and the gang decided to follow it and see where it led. But when they neared the path, they could hear voices.

Seeing a rock, Sora, Donald, and Goofy hid behind it as they peeked out. Kyrie joined them, and stared blankly at what she was seeing.

A boy that was wearing the strangest armor she had ever seen, was staring fearfully at the shadow of a large serpent, probably a dragon. Sora, Donald, and Goofy looked at each other.

"A heartless?" Donald asked. Sora nodded.

"Let's get the jump on 'em!" Kyrie stared at the scene, the boy didn't look like he was scared of the silhouette, but he looked more…apprehensive about something. And the boy didn't even look like a boy, he looked more feminine…

The next thing she knew, Donald and Sora were rushing in without thinking, like usual. Goofy got to his feet and shouted after them.

"Gawrsh, maybe we better look before we leap." he called. But Donald and Sora just ignored him, while Kyrie placed a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. Without further ado, the two followed after their rash companions.

The boy had cried out as a small red serpent leaped out from the rock and hid inside the boy's armor as he crouched down, probably scared out of his wits. Sora and Donald stopped as Goofy stared at the boy.

"Is that Mushu?" he asked. Kyrie looked at him curiously, who in the world was Mushu? At that, the small serpent, er…dragon, popped his head out and looked over the boy's shoulder.

"That's right; I know you heard of me! I'm little, lethal, and legendary! Now y'all scram before I get my dragon dander up!" it spoke. Kyrie gasped, it could talk! Sora smiled as he waved at the tiny reptilian.

"Hey, Mushu! We missed you!" he called. The dragon didn't seem to notice as he continued on with his threats. But in reality, he probably wouldn't last five seconds against a shadow. At least, in Kyrie's opinion.

"_For such a small creature, he sure has a big mouth." _she thought.

"Yeah, well you better HOPE I miss YOU, or else you're… you're…" he paused, getting a good look at the group in front of him.

"… Sora! Donald! Goofy! Oh, and I see you guys have a new girl on the team. Hmm…she looks a little plain, but she's kinda cute." Kyrie felt her eyebrow twitch and her fist clench.

"_Why that little-" _she thought angrily as she tried to keep herself from going over and smacking him. Mushu jumped off the boy's shoulder just as the boy turned to look at them.

"Do you know them?" he asked. She paused, even the boy's voice sounded feminine. The dragon nodded as he walked over and leaned against Sora's leg.

"Know them? Man, we used to kick all kinds of bad guys butt together! Yeah, you know, I helped these guys out of a lot of tight spots. 'Cause I'm a mighty dragon! Right?" he gloated. Sora smiled and moved his leg, causing the "mighty dragon" to fall flat on his tail, making Kyrie giggle silently.

"Something like that. And… you are?" he asked. The boy paused before speaking.

"I'm Mulan. Um, no, I-I mean…" the boy's voice changed, dropping an octave as it did so. This made Kyrie even more suspicious of the boy's true gender, even the first name he gave sounded like a girls.

"_Well…for now he'll be a girl, until he can prove otherwise. But then again…he might be one of those guys Axel labeled as "gay"." _she thought as the boy stammered.

"Ping!" Mushu added from out of nowhere. They raised their eyebrows at the two before Donald spoke up.

"Mulan Ping?" he asked as he crossed his arm, clearly skeptical at the name. The boy, girl, shook his, her, head.

"Just… Ping. I am Ping, son of Fa Zhou." He explained. Sora nodded before continuing the conversation.

"You know Mushu?" he asked. Ping nodded.

"Mushu's one of my family's guardians." He, she, answered. Kyrie wanted to bust a gut, there was no way Mushu could be a family guardian! In an effort to be polite, Goofy walked forward.

"We didn't know we were borrowin' somebody as important as a family guardian." He explained. Mushu popped out from behind Ping's shoulder and smirked at the group.

"Yeah, that's right!" he answered. Then he pointed to Ping.

"And that puts you three up to your eyeballs in debt to Ping here." He continued as Ping gave them an awkward smile. Mushu seemed unaware of his companion's expression, and just kept continuing.

"Well. Guess what, kiddies? It's payback time!" he finished. The boy, girl, looked at him warningly.

"Mushu…" Ping muttered. The red dragon turned the him, her, clearly acting as if he were doing anything wrong.

"Ah, they don't mind. Ain't that right?" he spoke, turning to the group again. Sora nodded as he placed a hand to his chin.

"Hmm, sounds fair." He answered. Donald and Goofy nodded as well, while Kyrie just stood there in confusion. How she got caught up in all this, she had no clue. With a silent sigh, she nodded as well, making the boy's, girl's, expression brighten.

"See, Ping here was just on his way to join the Imperial army." Mushu began as he moved to Ping's other shoulder. "We gotta go find the other recruits over at the training camp."

"Would you join us? It'll be easier to fit in if I'm with guys, like you." Ping asked. Kyrie narrowed her eyes, she knew it.

"_He is a girl! I was right!" _she thought. Without a second thought, she brought out her notebook and began writing, partly paying attention to what was being said next.

"What do you mean 'fit in'?" Sora asked her in confusion. Mushu cleared his throat as he tried to explain the situation away.

"Well, um, uh, don't…don't worry about that."

Just as Goofy started to speak, she held out her notebook for all to see.

**Ping, you're really a girl, aren't you.**

"You're pretendin' to be a boy, aren't ya?" Goofy spoke just as she held out her notebook. Ping looked at the notebook as well as Sora and Donald before the two boys jumped back in surprise.

"You're a … girl?" Sora asked, staring at her in disbelief. Ping looked at him sheepishly before she nodded.

"You didn't notice?" she asked. Both boys shook their heads before she turned to Mushu, smiling.

"I think it's working." At this, Mushu rolled his eyes as he crossed his small arms.

"I don't know… those two would fall for anything." At this, Sora spread his arms out indignantly as Donald pouted.

"I'm right here!" he cried as Ping began to walk away. The four began to follow her before she stopped, looking at Kyrie as she did so.

"I'm sorry, but your friend can't come. Girls aren't allowed in the army, that's why I'm dressing up as a boy." she explained. Sora stared at her.

"But we can't leave Kyrie behind, we'll-" before he could continue, a familiar notebook was in his face.

**It's alright, Sora. I'll wait here and keep watch. Come for me when you need me. **

Sora stared at her words and reluctantly nodded.

"Okay, if you're okay with that…" the group started to walk again, as Kyrie stood alone in the clearing. Sora, Donald, and Goofy turned to look at her once more, sad that their new friend couldn't come with them.

"Bye Kyrie." they called in unison. She nodded and waved as she watched them go. Once she was alone, she stood there and contemplated what she should do. After a moment, she heaved a quiet sigh.

"_Well, might as well gather firewood and catch something to eat."_

-Later that evening-

Kyrie sat in the middle of the bamboo grove, exhausted and irritated. She had no match to light the firewood she had found, and she couldn't catch any of the fish in the river. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't seem to catch any fish.

"_Ugh…so hungry…" _she thought as she heard her stomach rumble in protest. Suddenly the sound of a dark corridor opening startled her, making her turn and watch as a hooded figure stepped out from the corridor. She stared in disbelief as the figure lowered their hood to be none other than…Axel!

"_Axel!" _Kyrie thought as she scrambled to her feet. Axel stared at her, giving a relieved sigh in the process.

"_Thank kingdom hearts…she's alive." _he thought in relief. Suddenly though, he was propelled backwards as Kyrie tackled him, hugging him around the waist tightly as the two fell to the ground. Stunned, he stared at her as she buried her face into his abdomen.

"Jeez, Kyrie! You could've killed me!" he scolded teasingly. She sat up and glared at him, how could he joke like that? Grabbing her notebook and pen, she started to write.

**Axel you…jerk! I thought I was never going to see you again! You just went and dumped me at Yen Sid's and just took off, without even saying "Goodbye" or "I'll see you soon"! I thought…**

Axel noticed the tears in her eyes as he read her words, and nodded.

"Sorry. But I didn't have a choice, you were bleeding to death and if I hadn't dropped you off where that guy told me to, you would've died." he explained softly. She simply rested her head on his chest, completely ignoring that she was on top of him hugging the living daylights out of him.

But he noticed, and his face blushed brightly as he looked at their…compromising position.

"Uh…you mind getting off? Not that I mind, but I don't think you'd want anyone to catch us like this." confused at what he meant, she looked down, and her cheeks flared bright red. With a gasp, she scrambled off of him and got to her feet, trying to calm her pacing heart. Axel looked away and caught sight of the pile of wood, raising his eyebrow.

"You can't start the fire? Don't you know any fire magic, or at least have a match?" he asked. She looked down and shook her head, she didn't know any magic, period. He sighed, and with a snap of his fingers, the wood caught fire. She stared at him, wide-eyed.

"_I knew Axel could control fire…but not like this!" _she thought in amazement as she stared. He smirked at her reaction, and sat against one of the boulders.

"So, how long do you think you'll be here?" he asked. She shrugged and walked over, taking her seat next to him. Without realizing it, he had his arm around her shoulders as he pulled her against him. She leaned into him for warmth, grateful for the gesture.

All was quiet for a few minutes before he started again.

"I'm on thin ice with the organization, they're starting to think that I'm a traitor." Axel spoke, almost out of the blue. This made her flinch, but she also remembered her deal with Xemnas. As long as she was still working for them, he would be safe.

At least, she hoped he would still be safe.

With that on her mind, she began to drift off, her head resting against his chest as she did so. Axel, not realizing that she had fallen asleep, waited patiently for her response. But when he got none, he looked down and gave a small smile.

"_She's asleep! …Oh well, might as well join her." _and with that he closed his eyes and rested his head against hers, allowing sleep to take them.

* * *

><p><strong>Yay! Axel's back! *fangirls scream* Yes yes, I know you've all been waiting for their reunion, but at first I was going to have them meet up at Beast's Castle...then I decided otherwise. I mean, this is the perfect oppertunity for him to show up, since Kyrie's a girl and not allowed into camp.<strong>

**And yes, I do know that a lot of other people have followed this principle with their female OC, self-inserts, and whatnot. And NO! Neither Demyx or any other member is going to show up, just telling you guys now. THAT principle IS overused, and I'm trying to obtain and keep SOME originality. And before I go, I am still on a sort of...HIATUS because of college. So see you...whenever!**

**And please, read and review.**


	7. The Dream

**Please stay tuned for your featured presentation.**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 7

Kyrie trembled in her sleep as she curled against Axel's side, her dreams haunting her and bringing back visions of her past that were best left forgotten…

-Dreamscape, Kyrie-

"_**Where is everyone?" **_I heard a child's thoughts echo. I opened my eyes and found myself in a hallway, but it looked familiar. Yes, this hallway led somewhere, somewhere where grandfather and the others would go. I looked in front of me and saw my younger self as she walked, dragging the white keyblade behind her as she held onto it with one hand.

I deiced to follow her, and see where she would take me. But as we walked further in, I realized that these hallways were like a maze, you could easily get lost in them if you didn't know your way around.

But she seemed to know where she was going, and soon we came across what looked like a study. Books and shelves, as well as hearts floating in strange containers, filled the room. A lone desk and throne sat in the center of it, piled with papers and more books, and a portrait of a man hung on the wall, but at first I couldn't recognize him. I got a closer look, and realized he looked vaguely familiar…

"_**Where's Xehanort? Where's grandpa?" **_I heard her thoughts echo. Now it was clear, what the voice said was true. That last time I ever spoke, was to save Kairi. My younger self ran to what looked like a hallway that led out of the room, and followed it down. Following after her, I saw her standing behind a doorframe, peeking in on the room inside. Stepping around her, I watched what she watched.

Inside, a man resembling the portrait in the study stood, holding what looked like to be a keyblade. But it looked darker and more demonic than any keyblade I had ever saw.

"_**Even! Ienzo!" **_her thoughts screamed, making my head hurt. I looked and saw Even and Ienzo laying on the floor, their bodies disappearing. I spotted Braig standing in front of a computer, staring at their fading bodies in shock. He then turned to the man.

"_Whoa, Xehanort what are you thinking? Do you finally have your memories back, then?" _he asked, staring at the man. The man, Xehanort, gave no answer as he rushed in and plunged his keyblade into Braig's chest.

"_**Braig!" **_my younger self's thoughts screamed as a heart was released from his chest cavity. Braig fell to the ground, his body beginning to disappear as the heart disappeared. Xehanort turned and spotted us at the doorway, but I knew he was only seeing my younger self. She backed away before running, dropping the keyblade behind her as she did so. I turned and ran as well, following her as she ran through the hallways. When she got outside, she spotted Dilan and Aeleus lying on the ground as their bodies began to disappear as well.

"_**Dilan! Aeleus! No!" **_I covered my ears as her thoughts screamed in anguish. I just wanted the dream to end, I did not want to see anymore of this. Their bodies disappeared and I could hear the distant sound of footsteps, making my younger self look back before she started running again. Despite my desire for this nightmare to end, I followed her.

I was seeing this for a reason, I had to at least see this through.

As she ran away from the castle, she ran across the square and stopped. There, lying in the center of the square, were Lea and Isa. But they had met the same fate as the others, as their bodies faded from existence. She stood there, in complete shock, before she ran to Lea's side, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"_**Lea!" **_I covered my ears, this time her thoughts were howling in grief. I watched as she carefully rolled Lea over, so that she could see his face. He stared at her through half-lidded eyes, probably just barely clinging to life.

"_Hey…Kyrie…" _he rasped. She quickly grabbed his hand and held it tightly in her smaller ones, tears streaming down her cheeks as they landed on his transparent skin. He gave her a small smile.

"_Hey, don't cry…" _he rasped softly as he placed his other hand on her head. She shook her head as she continued to cry.

"_**Please…don't go!" **_her thoughts whimpered. I felt my heart wrench, for some reason… I could feel her sorrow. He stared at her somberly before pulling his hand away, only to press his index finger against her forehead.

"_This isn't goodbye…as long as you remember me…I'll live on forever. Get it…memorized…" _and with that, his hand fell and she clasped it, before it turned to little balls of light and he disappeared. She stared at the ground where he once lay in shock before looking around.

"_**Lea, no! Please, come back, don't go! Big brother…" **_her thoughts screamed. I felt tears come to my own eyes as I watched her search frantically for her lost friend. I heard footsteps and turned, paling when I saw the man, Xehanort, standing there. He had his keyblade drawn, and was staring at my younger self intently. She didn't even notice him through her grief, as he approached her.

"_No, run! Get up and run, hurry!" _my thoughts screamed, as I ran forward and placed myself between the man and child. But he just passed right through me, like I was a ghost. He stood in front of my younger self and she finally looked up, her eyes widening as she stared at him.

"_You are far different from the princesses of heart. I finally see what you are, and you are going to become the ultimate weapon. And if that fails, I can at least use you to destroy the door to the light, and fill the worlds with endless darkness." _he lifted his keyblade and she cried out, covering her right eye as blood dripped from it. Just as he brought it down-

-I found myself sinking, my body surrounded by dark water as I stared at the surface of the water. I could see the light, but my body couldn't move. I couldn't breathe, and bubbles floated towards the surface around me as an unknown force continued to pull me down. I just kept sinking, sinking…

Falling…falling…

Into the endless darkness…

-Outside of Dreamscape-

Axel awoke to light whimpers and looked down at his side, surprised to find Kyrie crying as she clung to him tightly. He quickly placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a shake, trying to rouse her from sleep.

"Kyrie…Kyrie! Hey, wake up!" he urged. Immediately her eyes flashed open as she sat up, gasping loudly as she did so. She turned and looked around frantically, before heaving a sigh and falling against him. Her forehead was coated in sweat and her body trembled, he could only guess that she was terrified. He stared at her in worry before brushing her hair out of her face, so that her right eye was visible to him.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked. She jumped and looked up at him before nodding, relieved that it was only him. She quickly wiped the tears from her eyes before looking around, it was morning. He was silent as she shook her head so her hair covered her eye once more, before she got to her feet and stretched. He watched her the entire time, lost in his own thoughts.

What kind of dream did she have?

Before he could open his mouth and ask, he heard the distant sound of voices and growled.

"Damn, someone's coming." he growled as he got to his feet. She looked at him and nodded. They stared at each other for a few moments, before she walked forward and hugged him tightly. At this, he placed his hand on her head.

"I'll see you later. Be safe, got it memorized?" and with that, he pulled away and opened a dark corridor, giving her one last glance before stepping through. Just as the dark corridor disappeared, Sora, Donald, and Goofy appeared at the entrance of the grove. Kyrie smiled at them as they approached, something in Sora's arms. It was food!

"Hey Kyrie, sorry for not coming to see you sooner. We had a lot of training to do, and we were able to sneak away during breakfast." Sora explained. Kyrie nodded in understanding before Sora held out the food.

"We also thought that you might be hungry, so we smuggled out a few buns and some rice." he continued. She smiled and took the food gratefully, she didn't know what to say. Well, what to write in her case. Goofy smiled at the excited look in her visible eye, before the three sat down. Kyrie followed them, pulling out a bun and taking a bite out of it as she sat.

"Sorry 'bout yesterday, but Ping was right. Those guys don't seem to like girls in their army." Goofy apologized. She shook her head, pulling out her notebook and writing with one hand and holding the bun with the other.

**No, it's okay. You don't need to apologize for some stupid rule that they have. But I want to say thank you for the food, I tried catching some fish last night, but…well…it didn't go so well.**

They laughed when they read the last part of her sentence.

"I bet. Back at the islands I had to actually swim just to catch some fish. They're hard to catch." Sora laughed. She smiled and took another bite before Donald spoke up.

"We might have to stay a few days. The captain gave us a few missions, and we don't know if we can do them all in one day." he explained. She nodded before they could hear a commotion, and looked towards the camp.

"Uh-oh, we better get goin'. Looks like we hafta start the mission now." he gulped. Kyrie nodded as they got up and started walking, before Sora looked back at her.

"If you want, you could help us out. Today we're going to be near the river to take out some heartless, so you can come and help us get the mission done." he called. With that, they were gone. Kyrie was silent before quickly wolfing down her breakfast, she was sure that they were going to need her help.

Once she was done, she got up and summoned her keyblades, before running towards the river.

-The Checkpoint-

Kyrie ran in just as Sora, Ping, Donald, and Goofy were fighting off a horde of heartless. Some of them she recognized, from the soldiers to the shadows, but some of them she hadn't seen before. Sora, spotting her from the corner of his eye, called out.

"Kyrie, watch out for the Nightwalkers and Assault Riders!" he called as a large, centaur-like heartless tried to spear him. Kyrie nodded and blocked what she assumed was a Nightwalker, as it tried to swipe her with its large claws. Using one keyblade, she struck it down and used the other as a shield as another Nightwalker tried to take her head off.

"_Damn, these things are ruthless!" _she thought as she fought them off. The trickiest heartless was the Assault Rider, which lived up to its name as it tried numerous times to run her through with its spear. She growled silently as it tried again, but she managed to hold it off with both her keyblades.

"_Argh! I can't get past its spear unless I want to be run through! What can I do?" _she thought exasperatedly as she tried to hold it off. Then she remembered her new ability.

"_That's right! I can use shields now!" _she thought. She closed her eyes for a moment and pulled her keyblades back, taking a massive gamble because then she would be defenseless. She heard a clang and smiled, opening her eyes to see her shield holding off its spear. With that, she brought her keyblades down on it and took it down.

Once all of the heartless were gone, Donald began casting cure on the tired group. Sora turned to her as he sat on a rock, panting a little.

"Thanks, I don't think we could've done it without your help." he panted lightly as he held out a hand to her. She stared at it for a moment and nodded, taking his hand and shaking it as she smiled at him. Ping stared at her for a moment before speaking up, curious on something.

"Um…miss Kyrie…" she started. Kyrie turned to her before she continued.

"Where did you learn to fight like that? You fight better than any man that I know." she asked. And indignant "Hey!" from Sora and Donald was heard before she shrugged her shoulders. She knew the answer to that question, but didn't want to say anything. Because then they would know that she had worked for the organization. The girl nodded sadly.

"Oh…I see…" she murmured. Kyrie stared at the girl for a moment before pulling out her pen and notebook. When she was done writing, she handed it to Ping.

**It's alright. What I learned about fighting, is that you can't have any doubts about yourself. You have to trust and believe yourself, and set new goals each day. Keep trying to get stronger and stronger, not just in body, but in heart and spirit. It doesn't matter what gender you are, as long as you're strong in those aspects, nothing can defeat you.**

Ping read her words carefully, before she smiled.

"Heart and spirit…huh. Okay, I'll try that."

* * *

><p><strong>Now before you start questioning some events of the dream, go watch "Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance" trailer. I got some of the dream from some of the scenes in the trailer so...I guess it hints at what's to come.<strong>

**Oh, and there is one more thing I'm going to politely request you awesome readers. PLEASE. STOP. ASKING. ABOUT. AXEL. AND. KYRIE. KISSING. I cannot stress this enough. It gets very annoying. VERY VERY ANNOYING. There's a particular reason why they haven't kissed yet, and if it were left up to my romance-loving side...I would've had them sucking face by now. **

**Axel: Then why didn't you leave it up to that side? That side is awesome!**

**Me: Because.**

**Axel: Because...?**

**Me: Just. Because.**

**Kyrie: *rolls eyes before writing* **Don't question it, Axel. Obviously she has a good reason for not letting us kiss.

**Axel: Good reason? Ha! I doubt she has a good reason, got it memorized?**

**Me: *hits him with a frying pan* SCREW YOU, YOU IDIOT!**

**Sora: Uh...just ignore those two and leave some reviews. *recieves a glare from me* Oh, and don't forget to read it too! ...But wait, to see this means you must've read this-**

**Me: Oh, just read and review!**


	8. The Burning Village

**...SIGH...**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts character/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 8

It was mid-afternoon, and the group had gotten the missions done quicker than expected. Kyrie assisted them at the checkpoint missions, but stayed as far away from the camp as possible when a horde of heartless got in. The boys and Ping were able to handle that mission themselves, but Kyrie kept a close watch from the bamboo grove just to make sure.

While they were getting their mission details, she prepared to follow after them. The camp was bustling, meaning that the army would be on the move soon. She watched from the entrance of the grove as the four got to the entrance of the camp. Sora raised his hand, signaling that they were leaving.

"_That's the signal." _Kyrie thought as she slipped on her backpack, taking one last look at the camp she had made, before following after them. They met up at the checkpoint, Kyrie making sure that no other soldiers were around before turning to them.

"Okay, so the captain wants us to go and scout ahead in case there's any danger. If there's heartless, we'll take care of them." Sora explained. The rest of the group nodded as Kyrie summoned her keyblades. Without further ado, the group made their ascent up the mountain path.

Along the way, they encountered walls of rocks and dozens of heartless. While Sora broke the walls, the others took care of the heartless and protected him. At the end of the mountain path however, the group was stopped by a few Assault Riders, soldiers, and Nightwalkers.

"_Ugh!" _Kyrie thought as an Assault Rider brought its spear down on her keyblades, forcing her back. But after a swift kick to the hind leg from her, it fell forward and she took her chance to destroy it. She smirked as she watched it fade away, the adrenaline rushing into her veins like a river.

"_Ha! Take that!" _she thought triumphantly. Suddenly though, she felt something on her right side, but she couldn't see what it was because of her poor vision on that side. Not taking any chances, she swung her keyblade and heard a gasp.

"Kyrie, what're you doing? You almost took my head off!" she heard Sora shout. Turning, she spotted him as he lay on the floor, one hand covering his head while the other held the keyblade in front of him. She gasped and helped him to his feet, blushing in embarrassment as she did so. But it was short lived, when Sora gasped.

"Kyrie! Watch-" whatever he was going to say next was cut off when something smacked into her right cheek, sending her flying. She flew into a rock hard, her backpack flying off and landing on the ground, its contents spilled. She sat there for a moment, dazed and confused, before her vision cleared and she gasped. A solider was standing over her backpack, holding her star plush in its claws. It was staring at it curiously, as if it wasn't sure what exactly it was holding. Without further ado, it began to run off. She felt her heart stop.

"_No! Give that back!" _she thought as she got to her feet and ran after it, completely ignoring everything around her. All she was focused on was getting it back. Sora watched her as she pursued the solider, before catching what it was holding.

"Kyrie, wait! Come back!" he called. She quickly caught up with it and tackled it, making the toy fly out of its grasp and land on a nearby boulder. Ignoring the solider for now, she ran over and plucked it from the boulder, cradling it against her chest.

"_Thank kingdom hearts…I thought I lost it…" _she thought as she held it close. Suddenly though, she realized that she was surrounded by heartless. Not giving her any time to retaliate, they swooped in and she crouched, closing her eyes tightly as she prepared to meet her end.

"Kyrie, get down!" she opened her eyes and watched as Ping rushed in, deflecting their attacks with her blade as she fought to keep them away from her. Donald and Goofy joined her in seconds, followed by Sora, as the four fought the horde. Once they were cleared out, Donald turned to her.

"Kyrie, what were you thinking? You could've gotten hurt-" he stopped when he noticed that she was holding the toy tightly, not daring to meet any of their gazes. Since the boys were inexperienced with a girl's feelings, they didn't know what to think. But Ping, a girl herself, knew.

She knelt down and placed a hand on the girl's shoulder.

"That toy is precious to you, isn't it?" she asked. Kyrie was silent before nodding. With that Ping helped her to her feet and turned to the boys.

"Could one of you go and get her backpack? We'll stay here." she asked. Goofy nodded as he walked over and began gathering the items, Sora and Donald following him. Ping turned back to her new friend, concerned.

"Why is it so precious to you?" she asked. Kyrie was silent before grabbing her notebook and writing down her answer.

**It's all I have left of my past. From what someone told me, my mother made this toy for me. But she and my father…are both dead. This little toy is all I have left of both them and who I was. This is my most prized possession.**

Ping nodded, understanding. She looked at the boys as they picked up Kyrie's belongings, before turning back to her.

"You know…I ran away from home to join the army. My Father, Fa Zhou, was supposed to be in the army. Because I'm his only daughter, and he didn't have any sons." she explained. Kyrie nodded in understanding as she continued.

"I was afraid for my father. He is old and not young like he used to be. If he were here, right now, I doubt my father would've survived. So, I took his place." she continued. Kyrie stared at her.

"_She ran away from home just so her father would live…she's very strong. I don't think I could've done that." _she thought.

"I stole his armor and ran away, then I met Mushu, you, Sora, and the others. It's all thanks to the five of you that I am who I am now. The whole reason I'm on this mission, getting a chance to join the army and take his place. I loved my father enough to do this, so I understand how you feel. Your parents must be proud of you." she finished. Kyrie looked at the woman in front of her in awe, she never thought of it that way before. When the three came back, Kyrie had a small smile, but the sadness didn't leave her eyes.

Sora stared at his new friend in concern, he didn't know what to say. Then a thought crossed him.

"That's right! The mission!" he gasped. Before anyone could move, Li Shang and his troops came trotting up the mountain. Three men, one in red armor, the other yellow, and the third blue, approached them.

"Hey, you ain't half bad. Especially since you saved a damsel in distress." the one in red, the shortest and burliest of the men, spoke. Kyrie felt her eye twitch, she was NOT a damsel in distress! The man in yellow armor, the toothpick of the trio, spoke next as he nudged Ping's shoulder.

"A man among men!" he exclaimed. Ping smiled at the three.

"Thanks!" she smiled. With that, the three walked off. But then she looked at the floor, her expression downcast. "But the captain…" she murmured. Sora gasped.

"Captain!" he gasped, startled. Kyrie remembered that she wasn't supposed to be around them, and was about to start running before Goofy stopped her. He quickly turned her around and kept a firm grip on her shoulders, preventing her from running. A man with a red cape and two others approached them, the man in the cape obviously the captain.

"Ping sure did great!" Goofy started, obviously trying to put in a good word for his newest friend. "He even saved a damsel in distress!" at this, Kyrie elbowed him in the ribs, her irritation blatant. Donald nodded.

"You bet he did!" he added. The captain was silent as he stared at the group, mainly Ping and Kyrie, since Goofy happened to "mention" that Ping saved her butt from getting killed.

"Hmm…fine. I'll let you join my troops…But I'm still not convinced you have what it takes to be a worthy soldier. Despite your heroism in saving a civilian's life." he answered. Sora glared at him.

"Why not?" he exclaimed. Kyrie was about to stop him before Ping spoke.

"It's all right, Sora. I'll find a way to show him what I'm made of. Just give me a chance." she spoke, determination flashing in her eyes. Kyrie smiled at this, Ping was beginning to blossom in self-confidence. The captain smiled at her.

"That's the spirit, Ping." he spoke encouragingly. She nodded.

"Sir!" and with that, the captain and his men continued on. Moments later, the men with different colored armor came back.

"Good going, Ping!" the one in yellow cheered. She smiled and inclined her head.

"Thanks!" she thanked. The men then looked at Kyrie, who was the only known female in the group at the moment. The man in yellow suddenly cleared his throat and dropped it a few octaves. He then puffed out his chest, trying to make an impression.

"Would you like us manly soldiers to escort you to the nearest village?" he asked, his voice deep. Kyrie silently giggled but shook her head. At this, he deflated.

"Aw man…" he sighed. With that, he and his companions walked off. The five stood there silently for a moment, before Kyrie grabbed her backpack and made sure everything was inside. Once that was done, she placed the toy inside before turning to them and pulling out her notebook.

**I'll explain everything that happened later, but I better go ahead. I don't want another encounter with your "army buddies".**

They nodded in agreement. Ping stared at her in confusion before nodding, what had happened at the path was between them. Just their little secret.

"Okay, but just be careful. Shan-Yu may be around." Sora cautioned. She nodded, and with that, she was gone.

-Later, the Village-

Kyrie stayed near the outskirts of the village, since she was trying to stay as far away from the soldiers as possible. Though she did browse through some of the shops around the village, and bought a few potions, ethers, and other items. She smiled as she tucked her purchases inside her backpack, making it bulk with the amount of items it contained.

"_Wow, I bought so much…then again…back in the organization I hardly spent any of the munny I earned when I destroyed heartless." _she thought as she organized her contents. She shivered a little, it was snowing and the snow combined with the wind made it unbearably cold.

"_Man, how can these people stand this cold? Sure, I'm wearing a long skirt and arm warmers…but this is ridiculous!" _she thought as she rubbed her arms. Suddenly though, a loud scream followed by more cries of shock and fear arose, and she got to her feet. She saw a man with sickly-gray skin dressed in animal skins carrying a sword, surrounded by heartless. Her eyes widened.

"_Is that…Shan-Yu?" _she thought as she stared at him. But she didn't have time to ponder much else, because he gave a command and heartless swarmed into the village. Disregarding all else, she summoned both keyblades and ran into the village, her first priority to protect all those who would fall victim to the heartless.

"You men, get the villagers to safety! I'll handle Shan-Yu!" she turned and spotted the captain, Shang, as he drew his sword and faced the heartless. Somehow, a fire got started as the imperial soldiers began evacuating the villagers. That's when Kyrie heard a child's cry. She turned and spotted a small girl looking around helplessly as people ran past her, but paled when she spotted a Nightwalker as it snuck up from behind the child.

Rushing in, she stepped in front of the girl and used one keyblade to hold off its claws while the other slammed against its head, knocking it to the ground. She knelt down and picked up the child and used her white Kingdom Key to finish it off. She stood there for a moment, panting, when she felt a tug on her jacket. Looking down, she met the brown eyes of the little girl as she clung to her tightly.

"T-thank y-you…for saving me." she whimpered. Kyrie smiled gently at the little girl, and nodded. She looked around and saw that some shadows and soldiers were beginning to gather, and held the child close as she held her keyblade in front of them.

"_I can't let this child get hurt. If I can get her to the other evacuees…" _her eyes darted to where the imperial soldiers were helping the villagers to safety. Shan-Yu had since fled, but his heartless were still causing havoc as the village burned around them. The heavy smoke began to interfere with her breathing, and she knew the child in her arms was having difficulty breathing as well. She had to act, now!

"_Here goes-!" _she thought as she ran in, swiping and kicking the heartless out of the way as she made her way to the evacuees, cradling the girl against her chest as the child buried her face into her shirt. The smoke became even thicker, making it difficult to see as well as breathe. It was like inhaling cotton, it would only build up and force any oxygen that tried to get through back out.

After giving another swift kick and knocking a solider out of her way, she finally reached the imperial soldiers and the evacuees as they made their way to the mountain path. Panting, she walked over to one of the men and grabbed his arm. He looked down at her and his eyes widened.

"What the- you should be with the other civilians! What are you-" he stopped when he caught sight of the blade in her left hand and the soot-stained child in the other. Before he could say more, a woman's voice cried out.

"Ming! Oh Ming!"

"Mama!" the child cried as a woman broke free of the crowd and ran over, tears streaming down her cheeks as she reached out for her child. Kyrie placed the girl on her feet before she ran over, throwing herself in her mother's embrace.

"Oh Ming, I was so worried!"

"I'm so sorry Mama…" Kyrie watched the touching scene, her heart feeling empty for a moment as she watched the heartfelt reunion.

"_I wonder…did my mother…ever act like that whenever I was in danger?" _she thought as she watched. Suddenly, the scene began to change and the woman and Ming disappeared, a silver-haired woman and white-haired child taking their places. She recognized the little girl as her past self, and it took her a few moments before she recognized the silver-haired woman. It was…her mother…

"_**It's okay honey, mommy's right here…that's right, don't cry." **_a woman's voice soothed. She felt tears come to her eyes, she heard this voice before…back in the Castle that Never Was…but where?

Immediately the scene changed and returned to normal. Kyrie closed her eyes and shook her head, clearing away her thoughts before opening them again. The woman stood, holding Ming's hand as she stared at Kyrie.

"Thank you, miss, for helping me find my Mama."

"Yes, you have my deepest gratitude. If it weren't for you, I would've lost my little girl." Kyrie smiled and nodded as they turned and followed the rest of the evacuees. That's when Kyrie remembered, Sora!

"_That's right! Where are Sora, Ping, and Donald and Goofy?" _she thought as she turned and looked around. The smoke was beginning to clear as the blackened remains of the village toppled over, but there was no sign of life.

"_Oh no…I hope they weren't-" _with that she ran into the destroyed village, looking for any sign of the four. She searched through the rubble before a loud groan sounded. Startled, she turned and spotted the captain as he sagged against a pile of what looked like some type of concrete. She ran over and knelt next to him, the man had gone unconscious. But he had a deep wound in his side. It wasn't life-threatening, but it needed to be wrapped up to prevent infection.

Acting quickly, she pulled out a roll of bandages she had bought earlier and began to wrap them around his wound. Once his wound was wrapped, she stood and took a few steps back, unsure whether she should continue searching for Sora, or find this man help.

"Captain!" she turned and spotted Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Ping as they rushed over. She smiled and sighed in relief.

"_Thank kingdom hearts…they're alright…" _she thought in relief. She stepped back and walked away, allowing them to check on the captain as he regained consciousness. She didn't want the man catching sight of her, so she waited at one of the village exits that led further up the mountain as they finished. Once they had finished talking, Sora and the others met her near the entrance to a cave.

"C'mon guys, we're going after Shan-Yu! He's going to pay for this!"

* * *

><p><strong>...<strong>

**Axel: Hey, what's wrong with the author?**

**Sora: *pokes me with a stick* Maybe she's sick?**

**Kairi: Sora! Don't poke her with a stick!**

**Me: ...COLLEGE SUCKS...**

**Kyrie: *giggles silently before writing* **I hope you all enjoyed this latest chapter, despite the author's silence. Please read and review, and have a nice day.


	9. Fighting ShanYu

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts character/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 9

The five began their ascent to the mountain, their destination its summit. Apparently, someone had spotted the man making his way there. Kyrie had already drawn her keyblades, prepared to face anything from shadows to Assault Riders. But once they got to the summit, she was caught off guard. Hearing a hawk's shrill cry, she looked up as a hawk flew overhead, before it headed to a figure at the top of the summit. It landed on the figure's shoulder, revealing it to be Shan-Yu.

Suddenly, hundreds of heartless appeared behind him, a kind that Kyrie had never seen before. They were small, a dark yellow-orange, and looked like they had propellers. She knew they probably weren't much of a fight, but they had the advantage despite this.

They had the advantage of numbers.

"Whoa!" Sora gasped as the group stared at the large horde with wide eyes. Shan-Yu unsheathed his sword and pointed it at the group.

"Attack!" and with that, the horde descended on the group. Sora and Kyrie were the first to run in, with Ping, Donald, and Goofy following behind them. Using both keyblades, Kyrie struck down heartless after heartless in a series of jumps, flips, spins, and uppercuts. But whenever one caught her off guard and landed a blow, the rest seemed to swoop in and try to deal their own blows.

This was the case as Kyrie was thrown back by a large, red, tower-like heartless that stuck her in the side with its head.

"_Ugh!" _she thought as she landed in the snow, making a flurry of it shoot up and cover some of her body. Thankfully, the heartless became confused because the whiteness of her hair seemed to have blended with the snow around her, and snow covered her skirt like a white blanket. Using this to her advantage, she allowed a large number to swarm before shooting up, leaping in the air as she spun, taking out most of them instantly.

Soon, the horde was gone as the five fighters regrouped. Most of them had their fair share of damage, which Donald instantly fixed with a simple cure. The group looked up as Shan-Yu glared at him.

"Raah!" he yelled as he ran down the large slope, a smaller group of heartless behind him. Kyrie heard crunching of snow from behind and turned just as the three soldiers from before walked over.

"Stand back."

"We'll handle this." The red-armored man began to aim what looked like to be a rocket at Shan-Yu. At that moment, Ping looked at him and gasped, before running forward and knocking the man over, swiping the rocket from his arms.

"Sorry!" she shouted as she ran forward. She dove for the ground, aimed the rocket at the mountain, before looking around for a moment, her eyes landing on Mushu. She quickly grabbed him and forced him to light the rocket, letting him go as he jumped on the tip. Then, it went off.

"You're going the wrong way!" he shouted as the rocket went towards the mountain. It made impact with a small "poof" before an avalanche of snow came barreling towards them.

"Yes!" Ping exclaimed, but Kyrie just stared at her with wide eyes.

"_We have to get out of here!" _she thought, her heart hammering as the mountain of snow came closer and closer.

"Captain?" Sora exclaimed, astonished. Kyrie turned and watched at the captain approached, Ping gasping as well as she ran at him.

"Look out!" she cried, grabbing his arm as the others made their mad dash to get away from the avalanche. Sora hesitated, and Kyrie had to jump at him, shoving him backwards as they both flew out of the path of the snow. Kyrie landed with a soft thud, as Sora landed a few feet away, dazed and confused. Donald helped him to his feet, while Goofy came over to do the same with Kyrie.

"Gawrsh, are you both alright?" Goofy asked as he helped her to her feet. She nodded as well as Sora, before he turned to her.

"Thanks, but you didn't have to tackle me like that!" he whined, rubbing his hands over his stomach. Kyrie silently giggled as she rolled her eyes, sometimes this boy just didn't seem to get it. The four began walking over to Ping and the captain, Kyrie taking note of the depressed and ashamed expression on the girl's face as she looked at the ground. Realizing that she could jeopardize their cover as army soldiers, Kyrie ducked behind Goofy for cover.

"Ping! Captain!" Sora called as he ran over. Stopping a few feet away, Goofy sighed in relief.

"Oh boy, you're okay!" he spoke, relieved. But the glare Shang gave him silenced him as he glared at Sora, Donald, and Goofy.

"You all knew, didn't you? You knew Ping was really a woman in disguise." He stopped, spotting Kyrie as she hid behind Goofy, his expression darkening.

"You. You're the girl from the mountain. What are you-" he stopped, turning to glare at Sora, Donald, and Goofy.

"You dare allow a woman, no, _two_ women, to fight alongside you in a battlefield? Are you not men?" he exclaimed. Kyrie felt her blood boil, how could he say such terrible things? Drawing her keyblade, she stepped in front of the trio and stared the man down, challenging him.

"_Keep talking, you bastard. See where it gets you." _she thought as she glared murderously at him, her vision blurring red like before. She could only guess that her eyes were now red, and her aura angry.

Shang stared at the girl in front of him in shock. He could literally feel the anger rolling off her in waves, but he chose to ignore it. What could a girl her size do to him? He turned his attention to Ping, and began to approach her.

"I can't believe you lied to me." He spoke, walking past her. He stopped, placing his hands on his hips, not meeting her gaze.

"The punishment for high treason and dishonoring the Army… is death." Ping turned to face him, as Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Kyrie stared at him in stunned silence. She had never told them that there was such a high punishment if anyone were to ever find out her true gender. He looked over his shoulder at them, remaining silent for a moment longer before speaking.

"Get out of my sight… now. You're all dismissed."

"But Captain…" Sora started, but stopped when Kyrie placed a hand on his shoulder.

"My debt is repaid." And with that, he walked away, his soldiers following after them. Ping sighed as she slumped, Mushu appearing on her shoulder, his expression that of regret.

"Mulan… I blew it."

-A few minutes later-

After a few minutes, Ping, or now Mulan, had taken off her bulky armor and allowed her hair down, but it only reached to just above her shoulders. Kyrie stared at her, smiling sympathetically at the young woman. She turned to them, smiling sadly.

"Thank you, everyone. Sorry I got you in trouble." She apologized. Sora and Kyrie shook their heads, before Sora spoke up.

"It's no big deal. So Ping… I mean, uh, Mulan… what're you gonna do now?" he asked. She started walking down the mountain, before looking at him from over her shoulder.

"Go back home." She answered. Mushu walked beside her sadly, and Kyrie felt a pang of sympathy for the small dragon.

"You know, your daddy's gonna be steamed as a chicken dumpling." He sighed. Sora immediately grabbed Donald and Goofy, holding them as the three smiled.

"Relax, we'll take our share of the blame." He smiled. Kyrie nodded as she walked forward and placed a hand on the taller girl's shoulder. Pulling out her notebook, she began to write.

**Don't worry, Mulan. I'll take the blame too. After all, we girls have to stick together.**

Mulan read her words before she turned to them and smiled at their silly antics.

"Thanks. You're all wonderful friends." She smiled. Sora grinned and the group began walking. About halfway down the summit, however, an inhuman roar resounded. Startled, the group ran over to the edge to investigate, spotting Shan-Yu as he popped out of the snow, like a daisy. Her eyes widened.

"_How in the world did he survive?" _she thought, staring at him in shock. Sora and Mulan shared similar looks of shock as they watched him gather his heartless.

"Shan-Yu?" She gasped. Sora stared at the man, his jaw dropped.

"He's alive." he exclaimed. The Hun leader began his move, making her jerk back when she realized just where exactly he was going.

"He's headed for the Imperial City! We've got to warn Shang!" she exclaimed. She and Sora turned to each other and nodded, before Kyrie grabbed their wrists and began to pull them towards the exit. With that, the group ran, knowing that Shang and the Emperor's life were hanging in the balance.

-The Palace-

The group caught up to the army just as they walked through the palace walls, Kyrie pausing when she realized that some of the soldiers moved erratically, almost like a zombie. She scrutinized them for a moment, before following the others as they caught up to Shang.

"Shang!" Mulan shouted, making the man stop as she stopped right beside him.

"Shan-Yu's alive! He's headed this way!" she explained, sounding urgent. The man placed a hand on his hip as he stared at her, disbelieving.

"And why should I believe you this time?" he asked. Kyrie glared at him, what in the world was this man thinking? Sora seemed to share similar thoughts as he spoke up.

"But… she's telling you the truth!" he added. Donald stared at them angrily for a moment before he spotted something, quacking as he pointed to the sky. All eyes shot up and spotted a familiar hawk as it flew to the rooftops, landing on a familiar shoulder. His eyes widened.

"Guard the palace! Do not let the enemy get anywhere near the Emperor!" he shouted as he waved his hand. Three of his men ran past him, but the others stayed in place, their body movements erratic. He turned to them.

"That's an order!" but within seconds, the men became Nightwalkers. Kyrie drew her keyblades, as well as Sora, as the two and Mulan rushed in to protect Shang.

"Captain! We'll secure the courtyard, and you can save the Emperor!" Sora ordered as the three blade-wielding protectors stood in front of the confused man. When he didn't move, Donald turned to him.

"That's an order!" he shouted. The man gave the group a small smile before running towards the palace. From that point, it was all child's play as the group took down the heartless that infested the courtyard. Once it was cleared, the group turned towards the palace.

"The Emperor's in danger!"

"No time to lose!" and with that, the group broke into a sprint as they ran towards the palace doors. But once they got there, they stopped.

Shan-Yu was standing in front of the emperor, a sword held to his throat. The man glanced at the group for a moment, catching Mulan's nervous expression as he grinned. Without warning, Shang dropped down in front of them as the emperor moved back, the man, decking him in the chin and elbowing him in the stomach, effectively knocking him down before rushing the emperor into the palace, two of the three soldiers closing the large gates behind them. Before Shan-Yu could make a move towards the doors, the group rushed in, blocking his way.

"It ends now!" Mulan spoke, raising her sword at him as she got into position.

"Right now!" Sora added, glaring at the man. Shan-Yu simply smirked as his hawk landed on his shoulder, before chuckling as a dark aura wrapped around him.

From there, it went straight to chaos.

Kyrie, Sora, and Mulan went straight after Shan-Yu, while Donald and Goofy dealt with the hawk. The three blade-wielders had a difficult time dealing blows with the man, since he was much stronger in arm strength than any of them were. But when she got into a blade-on-blade confrontation with him, Kyrie spotted his one weakness. His feet.

Smirking, she used her right leg and swept the larger man off his feet, making him skid a few feet as she dealt him a massive two-keyblade blow to his side. Sora smirked and gave her a thumbs up when she landed gracefully on her feet.

"Great job, Kyrie!" he called as he rushed in, trading blows with the man. Kyrie nodded before the boy was thrown back, deadpanning as she watched him fly into a pillar. She sighed and shrugged, he got cocky and distracted.

"_I really need to teach him not to be so absent-minded…" _she thought. Suddenly, she heard a cry and turned, as Mulan was thrown into the ground. Within seconds, Shan-Yu stood over her, sword raised, as he was about to bring it down on her neck. But before he could, Mulan's sword met his in a fury of sparks as metal met metal. Kyrie quickly rushed in, slamming one keyblade into his shoulder and the other into his chest, sending him flying. Sora rushed in as he and Mulan dealt the final blow, their weapons slamming into Shan-Yu's chest.

With that, the villain fell, and the group cheered in victory. Mushu seemed the most excited as he began running around and jumping.

"Now that's what I call burning some hunny-bun! Aw, yeah! Mulan's the best! Mulan's the best! No, wait a minute… I'm the best! Mushu's the best! Mushu's the best!" Kyrie smiled and rolled her eyes at the dragon's antics. But when she heard the large doors opening, she turned her attention to Shang and the Emperor as they stepped out. They walked over and stopped a few feet away from them, before the emperor started speaking.

"I've heard a great deal about you, Fa Mulan." He spoke. She nodded and stepped forward, brushing some hair behind her ear as she bowed.

"You stole your father's armor, ran away from home, impersonated an Imperial soldier. You deceived your commanding officer, shamed the entire Chinese army, and dishonored your family name." Kyrie rolled her eyes and Sora shook his head, placing his hands on his hips.

"We get the picture…"

"_Yeah, we get it alright. These people are so damn sexist! Even the organization had more respect for women than these people!" _Kyrie thought. He ignored the boy's words and simply continued on.

"You're a young woman. And in the end…" Kyrie felt her heart drop.

"_Oh please don't execute her, please don't execute her, please…" _she prayed.

"…you have saved us all." Startled, Kyrie looked up and watched as he bowed in front of her, making the young woman flustered. A crowd began to cheer in the courtyard and Donald started jumping up and down in joy.

"Your Excellency!" Mulan cried, hugging him. Once she pulled away, the emperor turned to Shang. "Captain Li?"

Shang proceeded to pick up Shan-Yu's sword and presented it to Mulan. Once she took the sword, he began to explain.

"Take this, so the world will know what it is you have done for China." Mulan smiled as she bowed.

"Thank you!" Shang was silent before turning to the rest of the group.

"Mulan."

"Yes?"

"Sora."

"Sir."

"Donald."

"Goofy."

"Yes, sir."

"And uh…" he paused, staring at Kyrie. For one, he didn't know what her name was since none of them had spoken her name in his presence, and blushed a little as she stared at him. Oh boy, was this an awkward situation. Thankfully, Mulan stepped in.

"And Kyrie, right captain?" she asked sweetly. The man jumped, before nodding.

"Ah, yes. And Kyrie." the girl nodded before he continued, bowing.

"Thank you." the group nodded and smiled as the emperor leaned in.

"'Thank you'? Is that all there is to say, Captain? If you wish to win the heart of Fa Mulan, China's bravest woman, you'll have to be a bit more eloquent than that!" the group started laughing at the redness in Shang's face before Sora placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Can I get an autograph?" he teased. She smiled as she turned to him.

"Thanks for everything, Sora." She thanked. He nodded as Mushu began to walk away, mumbling to himself as he did so.

"Now they GOTTA let me go back to bein' a guardian! They GOTTA!" everyone was silent as Goofy placed a hand on his chin.

"But Mushu, I thought you already WERE a family guardian!" the dragon jumped, not realizing he had actually been heard.

"What? Oh, no, no… don't worry about that, that's just real technical. Just for us guardians." At this, the rest of the group managed to put two and two together, irritating both Sora and Kyrie.

"You tricked us!"

"No, no, no, no, see I did… I just, uh…" and then he started running, with Kyrie and Sora hot on his tail. But after a moment, Mulan gasped, as the sword was surrounded by light. Kyrie felt the fluttery feeling inside her chest as the sword began to hover into the air, a keyhole appearing behind it as it did so. Sora repeated what he did in Hollow Bastion, and the light faded away. Donald smiled as he pumped his small fist.

"Okay!"

"Guess it's about time to be movin' on." Goofy added. The emperor nodded, a small sad smile on his face.

"You shall be missed." Sora turned and brushed his finger against his nose, a small, sad look on his face.

"Is it okay if we come back to visit?" he asked, hopeful. Mulan nodded enthusiastically.

"Of course!" at this, Shang moved closer to her side.

"We will look forward to your return." Sora grinned at the pair.

"You two play nice!" he teased, making the two jump as their cheeks flooded with color. Kyrie giggled silently as she watched them.

"Whoa…watch it, soldier!" Mulan began to giggle as Mushu appeared on her shoulder, grinning at her. Then she turned to them.

"Goodbye, Sora, Donald, Goofy, Kyrie." she spoke. The four nodded and with that, they left the palace.

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><p><strong>Yep, that's the end of the first part in Land of Dragons. Now you know what comes next, it's...Beats's Castle! One of my favorite worlds because it crought back so many memories. Only sad thing is that you did get to kick Gaston's ass. I would've personally enjoyed it. Ah well.<strong>

**Please Read and Review!**


	10. Onward to Beast's Castle

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 10

As they boarded the Gummi ship, Donald immediately ran over to the controls and began the countdown to lift off. Kyrie, Sora, and Goofy took their seats and not long after, the ship took off.

Once they were in the sky and leaving the Land of Dragons, Sora stood from his seat and walked over, crossing his arms as he stood in front of Kyrie. She stared at him curiously, confused on why he was giving her a "you have some explaining to do" look.

"Don't tell me you forgot! Why did you almost take my head off back at the mountain path, and why did you risk your life over a doll?" He demanded. He was probably a little sore over the fact that she had almost beheaded him. Goofy joined in and Donald set the controls on auto-pilot before joining them. Kyrie was silent before pulling out her notebook and started writing.

**I'm sorry for almost taking your head off, Sora. But you were on my right side, I thought you were a heartless. It's a normal reaction.**

"Normal? But couldn't you see me?" he asked. She stared at the floor silently before shaking her head. The three boys waited patiently as she wrote to elaborate what she meant.

**I can hardly see in my right eye. That's why my hair covers my right eye, and why I always try to avoid walking close to anyone on that side. Sometimes I may be able to see a little bit, like some shape or color, but most of the time I can't. So I'm sorry about what happened, I should've told you, but I didn't want to give away a weakness.**

"Kyrie…" Sora started, but stopped. He really didn't know what to say. Sure, he may have been a little mad about what happened, but now after hearing why…

Goofy placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, smiling at her.

"Gawrsh, it's alright. It ain't a weakness, it just something that happens." he explained. She nodded before Donald spoke up.

"So how did it happen?" he asked. Kyrie raised her eyebrow at him, confused for a moment, before realizing what he had meant. Nodding, she began to write.

**I can't remember. **

"That's right. Master Yen Sid said that you lost your memories…" Sora spoke, remembering the old sorcerer's words. Kyrie was silent, she was only being half-truthful. In a sense, she had a suspicion of why she lost her sight in that eye, but she needed to know more.

"So now that's answered…why did you risk your life to save that toy?" he asked. Kyrie smiled, the boy's curiosity never seemed to dwindle. She grabbed her pen and began to write.

**That toy is all I have left of my past. I may not remember it, but I know that toy is the key to remembering who I was. Who I am. That's why it is so precious to me.**

She didn't dare tell them the same as she told Ping. While she did not remember her past, she did remember the dreams. And DiZ had told her that her mother had given it to her as a present, and therefore, was all she had left of her mother and father. The boys stood there silently before nodding in understanding.

"Oh." Sora spoke. Donald went back over to the controls to see where their next destination was.

"It looks like we'll be there soon, but it'll be dark." he sighed. The others nodded as they gathered their things, preparing themselves for the long night ahead of them.

-Meanwhile, the Dark City-

Axel was silent as he wandered the Dark City. He was on thin ice with the organization, and he wasn't sure how much longer he had before they would mark him a traitor and come after them. He heard the familiar sounds of footsteps and looked up from where he was leaning against a building, arms crossed. Demyx stood there, looking almost embarrassed.

"Uh, hi Axel…" he started, but stopped when he caught sight of the pyro's glare. He gulped and fidgeted, almost ready to make a run for it.

"What do you want, Demyx?" he growled. The young man was silent before gulping and answering.

"I-I was wondering…how do you think Kyrie is?" he answered. Axel was silent before giving the water mage a small smirk. Out of the organization members, Kyrie looked up to Demyx and Xigbar the most. Demyx was like a big brother to her, while Xigbar was more like a father or crazy uncle, depending on the circumstances.

"Actually, I saw her yesterday. She misses you and Xigbar a lot. Got it memorized?" Axel confessed. Demyx seemed to brighten at this aspect.

"Really? She misses us?" he asked. Axel nodded.

"Yeah. You both are like family to her, why wouldn't she miss you?" he chuckled. Despite having qualms with the melodious nocturne, they met eye-to-eye when it came to Kyrie. Demyx blushed a little and scratched the back of his head. He saw Kyrie like a little sister, and looked out for her. After hearing that she had been kicked out, he felt horrible.

"It's just that, this is the first time anyone has ever missed me. Y'know, since we're nobodies and all. No one would miss us if we were gone." he explained. Axel nodded, understanding what he meant. With that, the water mage turned, walking away with a little spring to his step.

"Thanks for the info, Ax! See ya later!" he called. Axel felt his eyebrow twitch at the nickname, but nodded nevertheless. Once he was gone, Axel was left alone again. Or so he thought.

"Hmph. So you nobodies can care for others, or is this some sort of ruse?" Startled, he turned and spotted a familiar figure as it stood nearby. It was the man that worked for DiZ.

"Why're you here?" he growled, summoning his chakrams. The man held his hand up, before holding out a small box with a bow on it. Axel raised his eyebrow at the parcel, confused.

"What, now you're trying to give me presents?" he mocked. The man shook his head.

"No, it's not for you. It's for the girl." he answered. Axel was silent as he dispelled his chakrams, crossing his arms as he did so.

"Okay, now why are you trying to give Kyrie presents? You almost kidnapped her on two occasions, as well as punched her in the stomach." he pointed out. The man was silent before continuing.

"It's a present from DiZ. Apparently, it's her birthday tomorrow. How he knows, I don't know. But he gave this to me and told me to find you, since you and her are close." he walked forward, and shoved the box into Axel's arms. He stared at the box for a moment, spotting a white card on top of it, before looking back up.

Prepared to give the guy a tongue-lashing, he opened his mouth before realizing that the man was gone. Shrugging his shoulders, he plucked the card off the top of the box and opened it, reading what was inside.

**Happy 18****th**** birthday, Kyrie.**

**It has been a long 11 years since you last celebrated your birthday, and even longer since I last gave you a card. You may not remember your birthdays, but you were 7 when you last celebrated your birthday. You always loved celebrating your birthday.**

**But I digress. I want to give you a present to mark you entry into adulthood, but to you it may mean nothing. Nevertheless, I wanted you to be happy on this special day, and this present will hopefully be enough. I love you, my beloved granddaughter, and we'll see each other again soon. I promise. **

**Love,**

**Your Grandfather**

Axel read the letter, his nose scrunching with disgust. Kyrie had mentioned the man a few times, since he appeared in her dreams, but he didn't know much about him. Then again, neither did she.

But he paused, from what he remembered when he was Lea, birthdays were something that were special and long-waited for. People often got presents, ice-cream, and cake on their birthdays, and had their whole families and friends come over to celebrate.

But Kyrie wasn't going to get any of these things. Well, except one present from a man she hardly remembered. The thought bothered him, she would probably feel terrible if he gave it to her. Then inspiration struck him.

"_That's it! I'll get her a present! That way, she won't feel depressed when she gets this." _he thought. Tucking the box into his cloak, he opened a corridor. Taking one last look at the Dark City, he stepped through.

-Later, Beast's Castle-

As the four got off the Gummi ship, Kyrie stared in awe at the new world they had arrived at. The dark sky indicated that it was nighttime, and currently they were standing in the courtyard in front of a castle.

"_Whoa…" _she thought as she stared at it. It was enormous! Gargoyles decorated the courtyard, as well as some portions of the roof. But overall, the castle had a gothic look and a gloomy feeling in the air.

"Hey, Kyrie! Are you coming or what?" snapping out of her reverie, she spotted Sora, Donald, and Goofy as they stood at the castle doors. Nodding, she ran over to meet them as Donald and Goofy pulled the doors open and walked in, leaving Sora and Kyrie to close the doors behind them. Kyrie took one look around and thought only three words to describe the interior.

"_Gloom and doom." _she thought as she stared at her surroundings. The castle looked even more gothic and depressing inside than outside, and that said a lot in her book.

There was a grand staircase that led to three doors, one in the center, one on the left, and one on the right. Before the staircase, a few doors could be spotted but only one was partially opened. There were rugs, old paintings, and more gargoyle statues that decorated the room. Kyrie felt an uneasy feeling, like something was familiar about this place. But…what?

"Hey, what is this place?" Sora asked as he looked around. Kyrie shrugged her shoulders as he looked at her, she didn't know.

"It's huge!" Donald exclaimed. They nodded as Goofy placed a hand under his chin, pondering something. After a moment, he spoke up.

"It's sort of gloomy, don't ya think?" he asked. Kyrie nodded as she brought out her notebook and wrote something down.

**You said it. This place gives me the creeps. **

Sora smirked at Kyrie's nervous expression, before chuckling.

"Jeez Kyrie, you're such a girl!" he laughed. But one hard glare from her silenced him, and he realized how it came out. She quickly whipped out her notebook and began writing.

**You're so very lucky that you're like a little brother to me, Sora. Otherwise, I would've gone after you for saying something as narrow-minded as that.**

"Oh right…sorry. I didn't mean it." he chuckled sheepishly. She gave him a curt nod as he tried to change the subject.

"I wonder who lives here." He spoke as he walked forward.

Just then, a roar rang out in answer.

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><p><strong>A revelation exposed! Yes, that is Kyrie's true age, despite her looks. And now we start the good stuff in Beast's Castle. Thank god I got this part of the story written out, because I'm in a writer's block. <strong>

**SIGH...If any of you have any good ideas- except for Axel and Kyrie kissing- please PM me. (the reason I say this is because one of my best buds who reads but doesn't review this story keeps trying to convince me to go ahead of schedule and make them kiss.) Anyways...**

**Please read and review!**


	11. Meeting the Beast and Belle

**Aw, you guys are so sweet about the kissing thing. But don't worry, I night at my grandmother's house cured my writer's block so chapters are under way!**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 11

A roar rang out in answer, making the group jump as Kyrie inched herself closer to the boys. By the sounds of the roar, the owner did not sound happy. The boys looked around for a moment, not seeing anyone else but them, before Goofy spoke.

"Hey, does anybody else recognize that?" he asked. Sora crossed his arms for a moment, when another roar rang out through the castle. Kyrie jumped, feeling like if the roars didn't stop soon, she was going to have a coronary. Sora smiled.

"Hey! That's the Beast!" he exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear. Kyrie raised her eyebrows at them, they knew the creature who was roaring? Donald nodded in agreement.

"Yeah!"

"Maybe we should check up on him." Goofy suggested. Before anyone could move, Kyrie grabbed Sora's sleeve and have it a tug, making the boy turn to her.

"Yeah? What's up, Kyrie?" he asked. She quickly pulled out her notebook and began writing.

**So who is this "Beast" that you speak of? Is he a friend? Because from the sounds of those roars, he doesn't sound happy that we're here.**

"Friend of course! He helped us awhile back when we went to stop Maleficent in Hollow Bastion. He was there when his world got taken by the heartless." Sora explained. Kyrie nodded before spotting a shape moving from the corner of her eye. Sora noticed her gaze and followed it, his eyes widening.

"Look!" he exclaimed, pointing. Donald and Goofy looked to where he pointed, just as a shadow began to slither along the ground. Watching to see where it would go, it slithered up to one of the doors, the open one, and slithered right in.

"C'mon!" Donald ordered, summoning his staff as he ran after it. The others followed closely behind as he opened the door, poking his head inside. The room seemed normal, not a sign that any heartless were around.

"Where did it go?" he muttered as they walked in. As they began looking around the room, Kyrie noticed that a case that held the most beautiful rose she had ever seen, was sitting by itself on a table. Donald seemed to have spotted the rose as well, and started to walk towards it, hands outstretched. But before he could reach the table, the shadow they were looking for began to materialize in front of him, making him quack in surprise as he jumped back.

"Found it." he quacked. At this, more shadows began to form around the group, making Sora and Kyrie summoned their keyblades as Goofy brought out his trusty shield. The shadows were nothing against the keyblades, shield, and staff, but they had numbers. About half-way through the fight, Sora straightened up as he groaned.

"Aw, c'mon. Enough already." He groaned. Donald looked around, the shadows still forming, before yelling out in frustration.

"Somebody help us!" he yelled. Kyrie heard heavy footsteps outside before the door slammed open, revealing the most oddest and scariest creature she had ever seen. It was covered in fur, wearing a cape and pants, had what looked like goat horns on its head, fangs, claws, and a bushy tail. It began to walk down the stairs, pausing momentarily as a few shadows leapt at him.

Giving a roar of anger, it tossed the heartless aside like they were small toys, destroying them as they smacked against the walls and floor. It looked around for a moment, before its eyes zeroed in on the table with the rose on it. Then it began its approach.

Sora smiled as he raised his hand, expecting something like a high-five or a handshake.

"Just in time!" he grinned. But the ferocious monster just slammed its massive arm into him, knocking him off his feet and into Kyrie, throwing them into the air before they landed with a resounding thud, Sora on top of Kyrie. Donald and Goofy gasped before the monster showed them the same treatment, flinging them away.

"_Ow…" _Kyrie thought as she lay on the floor. She had the wind knocked out of her, and not to mention a one-hundred-and-something-pound boy sitting on top of her. The creature simply ignored them as it picked up the rose case, nuzzled it, and left the room.

Sora groaned as he got to his feet, gasping when he realized that he had landed right on top of Kyrie. He quickly helped her to her feet and checked her over, making sure he hadn't seriously injured her.

"Oh man, are you okay?" he asked, concerned. She nodded as she pulled out her notebook and began writing.

**Please don't tell me that was the "Beast". If that was, he better get his furry butt back here and apologize for flinging us across the damn room! He could've killed us!**

Sora looked at the door sadly, and Kyrie began to regret her written words. Donald and Goofy got to their feet, Donald glaring at the door as he rubbed his cheek while Goofy stared after the Beast in concern.

"Gee, do ya think he maybe forgot who we are?" Goofy asked. Sora was silent for a few moments before answering.

"With this many Heartless around, something must be up." he answered, the worry taking over the sorrow on his face. Donald scowled at the door as he continued rubbing his cheek.

"Why'd he have to do that?" he growled. They shrugged their shoulders as they left the room and went back into the hall they had entered. Spotting something move from the corner of her eye, Kyrie looked up, and spotted a brown-haired girl looking at them from the top of the stairs, near the right door.

She felt something inside her, just like when she had met Jasmine and Kairi. It was the same feeling of recognition, like she knew the girl. But her eyes told her she had never seen this girl before.

She noticed Donald looking at the girl as well, and when the girl realized they were looking at her, she gasped and disappeared. Sora noticed their looks and raised an eyebrow at them.

"What is it?" he asked. Kyrie and Donald turned to him.

"I just know I saw a lady at the top of those stairs…" he answered as he looked back. Kyrie giggled silently, she was sure too, but Donald hadn't been staring as long as she had. Sora and Goofy looked at the stairs as well, but the girl was long gone.

"Well… if the Beast is here in the castle, that lady musta been Belle, right?" Goofy suggested. Sora crossed his arms as he thought for a moment, and Kyrie stared at them curiously.

"_Who is Belle?" _she thought as she stared at them. Sora seemed to agree with what Goofy said, as he uncrossed his arms.

"Yeah, maybe so. Belle might know what's happened to the Beast, too." Sora answered. Donald and Goofy nodded before Goofy began towards the stairs.

"C'mon! Let's go find her!" Goofy smiled, his expression brightening at the thought of meeting an old friend. Sora and Donald followed his lead, but Kyrie stayed where she was. She didn't know a thing about them, and was nervous. Sora stopped and turned, surprised that she hadn't followed them.

"Hey, wait a second." he called to Donald and Goofy. Once they stopped, he ran over and grabbed her wrist.

"C'mon, we're going to leave you behind!" Sora urged. But Kyrie stayed where she was, still uncertain. He paused and realized that she didn't even know Belle!

"That's right! You don't know who Belle is!" he exclaimed. She nodded as Goofy and Donald walked over, eager to explain.

"Well we met Belle a little after we met Beast. See, he was searching for her when we met him at Hollow Bastion, so we teamed up and he was able to save her. She's one of the seven princesses of heart." Goofy explained. Kyrie nodded, before pulling out her notebook.

**What are the seven princesses of heart?**

The three looked at each other before Donald answered.

"We'll explained later. First, we've gotta find Belle and ask about the Beast!" he answered. Kyrie nodded, a bit disappointed, before the four continued on. They walked up the stair case and through the door at the end of it, and found themselves in another hallway. As they walked down it, Kyrie eyed the gargoyles warily, it was like they were watching them. As soon as they got to the end of the hallway, Sora placed a finger against his lips.

"Shh!" he hissed. Goofy covered his mouth while Kyrie rolled her eyes.

"_Yes Sora, let's tell the __**mute**__ girl to shut her trap!" _she thought sarcastically. The three tiptoed closer to the door, while Kyrie stayed back. Chances are, someone was going to get caught eavesdropping on a girl.

"What am I going to do?" a woman's voice spoke, muffled by the door. Sora pointed to the door silently, indicating that they were going to go in. But Donald it seemed, had other plans.

He took a few steps back in front of the door, staring it intently and sizing it out. After a moment, he took a deep breath.

"Okay." he grunted. Realizing that he was going to try and break the door down, Sora and Kyrie reached out to stop him, only to have their fingers brush against his clothes as he charged.

"Donald!" Sora cried. Just as he was about to make impact, the door flew open, making him fall forward and land flat on his face, his behind in the air as a result. After a moment, Donald slowly pushed himself up and looked around.

"Hey! Who opened the door?" He squawked. Spotting two feet in front of him, he looked up at a familiar face as a girl with brown hair, tied in ponytail with a blue bow that matched her dress. She smiled.

"Oh, I'm so happy you're here!" with that, she reached down and scooped up the duck, hugging him tightly as he protested, waving his arms as he quacked and squawked. Kyrie held her hand over her mouth, to hide the smile forming and to keep herself from silently laughing at Donald's plight.

"Donald!" she smiled as she hugged him, ruffling his feathers. With that, she turned and spotted Sora and Goofy, making Kyrie gulp as she hid behind the door. It was silly, but Kyrie felt nervous, meeting one of Sora's old friends. Donald continued to struggle, and she obviously didn't get the hint that he wanted down.

"Sora! Goofy!" she cried happily. Sora and Goofy waved, obviously happy to see their friend again.

"Hiya!" Sora greeted, making her smile widen. But when she spotted a bit of white hair sticking out from behind the doorway, she raised her eyebrow.

"Oh, and who is this?" she inquired. Kyrie jumped a little and moved so that she was no longer hiding behind the doorway. The two girls stared at each other for a few moments, Belle feeling like she had meet this girl before. But…where?

"Oh yeah, this is our new friend. Her name is Kyrie." Sora explained. Bella smiled at the girl, and, seeing her smile, Kyrie smiled too.

"Oh, hello Kyrie. My name is Belle, it's nice to meet you." she greeted. Kyrie nodded, pulling out her notebook as she began to write. Belle raised her eyebrow again, but didn't ask. Once she was done, she showed her.

**Likewise. It's very nice to meet you, Belle. Oh, and don't mind this. I can't talk, so I use a notebook to communicate. **

Belle nodded in understanding before Donald began shouting.

"Put me down! Put me down!" Belle gasped as she lowered him to the ground, releasing her hold on him. His looked around dizzily before snapping back to his senses, backing away from Belle as he did so. Sure, he was glad to see her, but he didn't want another death hug.

"Where's the Beast?"

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><p><strong>Yeah, sorry for cutting it short but if I continued...you all would've been bored as hell. Oh well. But yeah, as for the last chapter, you guys were so sweet about the kissing thing. And since I'm out of my writer's block...I'm gonna be typing like there's no tomorrow.<strong>

**Please read and review!**


	12. We're off to save the servants!

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 12

"Where's the Beast?"

Her smile disappeared and a frown took its place as she wrapped her arms around herself, like she was protecting herself from something or trying to keep something from coming out. Kyrie looked at the girl sympathetically, she looked absolutely depressed and dejected.

"Oh, he must be in the West Wing. We don't talk like we used to." She answered. Sora, Donald, and Goofy looked at each other and nodded while Kyrie stared at Belle curiously.

"Did something happen?" Sora asked. She stared at him for a second before answering.

"Yes. Isn't that why you're here?" she asked, confused. Sora looked at Kyrie, Donald, and Goofy before shrugging his shoulders. Their true reason for being there was the same as it was to the other words, to destroy heartless, nobodies, and discover the true intentions of Organization XIII. But it didn't mean that they couldn't help the world's residents whenever they were in a pickle.

"Not exactly. But we can still help!" Goofy answered, turning to her. This made the girl smile as she clasped her hands together. Sora nodded as well as Donald and Kyrie, all agreeing to assist Belle.

"Since we're here and all." Sora added. Kyrie began writing in her notebook, deciding that now was a good time to ask what had been going on in the castle as of late. Once she was done, she stepped forward and tugged on Belle's sleeve, making her look down at the smaller girl.

"Yes?" she asked. Kyrie simply held out her notebook for her to read.

**So let's start from the beginning. The Beast won't talk to you, at all? When did this all start happening?**

Belle was silent as she read her words, before answering.

"He's been acting strange lately. The only ones who might know why are locked in the dungeon. I want to help them, but…" Belle answered, shaking her head. Kyrie nodded in understanding, even she wouldn't try anything to get on the Beast's bad side, especially after what happened in the parlor.

"Wait a second. Who locked who up?" Sora asked. Belle turned to him.

"The Beast locked up his servants." Belle answered. Sora nodded before Donald decided to speak up.

"But why?" Donald asked in confusion. Belle shrugged her shoulders a little, still managing to keep herself lady-like.

"That's what I don't know." She explained sadly. Sora nodded as he placed his hand against his chin, thinking for a moment. Kyrie was silent as she thought this whole situation over.

"_Well, the servants would probably know what's going on with the Beast, so we should definitely go and get them out of the dungeon. But what's bothering me is…" _she looked towards the window for a moment, her eyes narrowing.

"_Is that I sense a familiar presence here. And not a good presence, either. It must be one of the members…but…who?" _she thought as she stared. She was instantly snapped out of her thoughts when Sora began to speak.

"Hmm. Where's this dungeon?" He asked, staring at her. Kyrie could only deadpan, Sora must've been thinking the same thing as her. Only difference, was that he probably couldn't sense a dark presence nearby, like she could.

"You can get to the undercroft from the West Hall. The dungeon is down there." She answered. Sora nodded as he turned to the door.

"West Hall. Got it." He said. Belle walked forward just as he, Donald, and Goofy began walking out into the hall.

"Be careful!" She warned, but he only turned and gave her a thumbs up, smiling as he did so. Kyrie only smiled as she followed, Sora really was a sweet boy. But sometimes, it seemed like he was in way over his head when it came to helping people. Regardless, she was glad that she was able to tag along with him, Donald, and Goofy.

Once they were out into the hallway, Kyrie walked so that she and Sora walked side-by-side, with Donald and Goofy right behind them. Once they got to the staircase, the continued until they were walking up the part of the staircase opposite of the one that led to the hallway Belle stayed. Through the door was a massive hall with suits of armor lining both sides, making Kyrie feel a little creeped out.

"_Jeez…the suits of armor look like they're staring at us." _she thought as she followed them, her eyes on the suits of armor the entire time. The hall turned a corner and led to an even bigger hall, which had a large set of stairs at one end of it. But something caught Kyrie's eye as the boys looked around.

"_Is that…a wardrobe?" _she thought, rubbing her eyes for a moment to make sure she wasn't seeing things. But it was true, a wardrobe was standing in front of a green door, that seemed to be rotting a little due to age. She quickly tugged on Sora's arm, getting his attention.

"Huh? What it is, Kyrie?" he asked, turning to her. She quickly pointed at the wardrobe, and his eyes widened. Approaching it, he spotted the door behind it.

"Here it is!" he called. He started to push it and almost as soon as the door was uncovered, the wardrobe moved. Yeah, that's right. It MOVED. The wardrobe moved and glared down at Sora, a pair of eyes and lips appearing as it woke up.

"Do you mind?" the wardrobe snapped in a female voice. Sora jumped and stood still, before starting to move back as the wardrobe moved back into its usual place. Kyrie stared at it, wide-eyed, unable to comprehend what just happened.

"_Did it…just talk?" _she thought, staring at it. Sora looked at the wardrobe for a second, before deciding to push it again. This time however, he went nice and slow, running when the wardrobe stirred, but continued after it fell asleep. Once it was out of the way, it stirred once more.

"And I was just starting to get comfortable… May I help you?" it snapped groggily. Kyrie bit her lip to hide her smile, while Sora, Donald, and Goofy blinked in surprise. Never had they heard an inanimate object talk.

"Huh? What? Oh, right…Belle needs us to go to the dungeon." He answered, confused for a moment as he stared at it. Or, in this case, her.

"Goodness! You're here to help my friends? Well, why didn't you say so?" The wardrobe smiled, obviously excited that the small group was attempting to rescue her friends.

"Er…" Sora started, drifting off. And Kyrie couldn't blame him, no one wanted to piss off this happy wardrobe, not in a million years.

"I'm sorry I startled you. Oh, I used to be human, you know, until the enchantress cast her spell. I was turned into a wardrobe when the prince was turned into a beast." The wardrobe added, obviously not hindered by the boy's lack of words. Donald and Goofy looked at each other in surprise.

"The prince is the Beast?" Donald asked at the same time as Goofy said, "The Beast is a prince?"

The wardrobe nodded, and Kyrie's eyes widened in both surprise and curiosity.

"That's right. Although, his behavior was far from princely at the time." The wardrobe explained. Sora looked back and forth, completely confused about what was being said.

"What's this about a… spell?" Sora asked. The wardrobe gave a mischievous smile as she began her tale.

"Well. It was a cold winter's night…" she started, leaning forward as if talking about the latest gossip. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and even Kyrie, nodded as they leaned forward, eager for the wardrobe to continue. But she merely winked at them and leaned back.

"And that's enough for now. You can hear the rest when you've rescued the others. It'll give you something to look forward to." She finished. Sora and Goofy slumped their shoulders while Kyrie placed her hands on her hips, clearly displeased. Donald looked down at the ground, disappointed.

"Aww…" he whined, disappointed. The wardrobe looked at the door for a moment, before looking back at them.

"Hurry, now. The dungeon is damp and chilly. Certainly no place for a clock!" she urged. The group raised their eyebrows at her, a clock?

"A clock?" Goofy asked, confused.

"You'll find out soon enough." She said simply. Sora nodded as he walked to the door.

"All right. Let's get going." He spoke, opening the door. Giving the wardrobe one last look, the four walked into the undercroft.

Once inside, Kyrie understood immediately when the wardrobe had said "damp and chilly". It was freezing in there!

"How could it be so cold down here, there's no windows or drafts!" she thought as she rubbed her bare shoulders, trying to warm herself up. The group stopped when they noticed a door with the strangest carving any of them had ever seen.

"This must be it." Sora stated as Donald walked forward and placed his head and hands against the door, trying to hear if anyone was inside. But Kyrie saw the carving's eyes flash bright yellow before she ran forward, arm outstretched. The entire door began to glow as Donald backed up, Kyrie grabbing the back of his clothes just as the carving came to life.

"Uh-oh!" he quacked as the carving lifted a hand and slammed it, missing Donald and Kyrie by inches as she jumped back. Then it slammed both hands together, and a fight ensued. Sora and Kyrie summoned their keyblades almost instantly as started attacking the door, before it went still and a small, black shape shot out of it.

Watching it closely, Kyrie went after it as well as Donald and Goofy, and with the three of them attacking it, Sora was able to rush in and deal the death blow. Once it vanished, the carving on the door disappeared and left an outline where it used to be. Looking at each other for a moment, the four decided to proceed with caution, hoping that nothing else dangerous was beyond the door.

Once they opened the door and walked inside, all they could see was a teapot, teacup, clock, candelabra, and nothing but straw. Kyrie raised her eyebrows, where were the servants?

"There's nobody here." Sora spoke, disappointed. Kyrie smiled, Sora always liked being the hero. Donald looked around, also disappointed.

"You mean there's nobody to rescue?" he asked. All was silent for a few moments, before an unknown voice spoke.

"Did someone say 'rescue'?" A voice asked.

"Shh! Keep quiet. It might be _them_." Another hissed. One tut-tutted.

"Oh, they look like a nice group of people to me." A third voice spoke, more feminine than the other two.

"We are nice. We're your friends." Goofy explained. Sora looked around before speaking again.

"Yeah, Belle sent us to find you." He explained. All of a sudden, the objects in the room began to move! They watched with amazed eyes as the teapot, clock, teacup, and candelabra jumped off the chairs and approached them.

"Wow!" the three spoke, leaning down to get a closer look at them.

"I'm Sora. Donald. Goofy. Kyrie." Sora spoke, pointing to each person as he said their name. Donald and Goofy nodded, while Kyrie gave a small wave, still amazed at what she was seeing. Suddenly Donald shot forward, grabbing the clock as the others jumped back, and began to mess with it.

"D-don't touch! I-I am self-winding, sir!" it protested. Goofy looked over just as Donald began to shake it, making Kyrie sigh before she spotted the little teacup at her feet. Smiling, she picked it up carefully and smiled at it. The teacup smiled right back.

"Hi!" it chirped in a little boy's voice. Kyrie nodded before Sora looked at the candelabra.

"I'm glad you're okay." He spoke sincerely, looking at it. The candle nodded, smiling at him.

"It is we who are overjoyed to see you!" the candelabra explained. Goofy looked at the small bunch before speaking.

"Did somebody put a spell on you guys, too?" he asked. The clock pulled its, his, arm out of Donald's grip, before looking at Goofy.

"Yes, that's right! You've heard! It was the enchantress." He answered. The candelabra nodded as he continued.

"It seems so long ago…" he spoke sadly, crossing his arms as he did so. The teapot began to speak as she stood by Kyrie's foot.

"It was a cold winter's night… An old beggar woman came to the castle, and asked for shelter." She explained. The clock continued from there as Donald continued to mess with him.

"But the master of this castle, that is of course, the prince…" he stopped the second Donald began playing with his pendulum, before he slammed the door protecting it.

"Stop that! Put me down this instant!" he snapped. Donald complied and sat him down, but not without glaring at him. The clock cleared his throat as he continued.

"The master turned her away. All because of her, ahem, meager appearance." Goofy gasped as Kyrie narrowed her eyes, he denied a poor old woman shelter just because she was ugly? That wasn't right!

"That's awful!" he exclaimed. The others nodded as the candelabra pitched in.

"Oui. He was a spoiled prince, so selfish and… how shall I say… cruel." He explained. The clock turned to him, shocked and horrified at it words.

"Lumiere!" he gasped. The teapot ignored them and continued their sad tale.

"The old woman warned our master not to be deceived by appearances… Still, he would not take her in." she continued. The four nodded as the clock and candelabra ceased their argument, and turned back to them.

"Then the old woman's ugliness melted away to reveal a beautiful enchantress." The clock added. The teapot nodded sadly as she continued, and Kyrie felt sorry for them. Whatever happened, they got caught up in it because of their master, and were completely innocent.

"She turned the Prince into a beast, a shape she thought fitting for his cold heart." She continued, her voice grave. But for some reason, the clock started talking before she could finish.

"And to further punish him, everyone in the castle was enchanted, too." He finished. The room was silent for a few minutes, before Sora finally got the courage to speak.

"Wow… that's quite a story." Sora spoke sincerely, although it didn't reach his eyes.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Goofy asked, wanting more than anything to help them in their plight. Donald smiled as he got an idea.

"Let's get the enchantress!" he exclaimed. The teapot shook her head.

"Oh no, dears." She spoke. The candelabra, Lumiere, turned to them before speaking.

"We already know what needs to be done, but with the master out of sorts…" Lumiere explained, before drifting off. Kyrie gave a silent sigh, even the servants didn't know what was going on with their "Master". Sora nodded in agreement.

"He sure was acting weird." He agreed.

"It's almost as if he's forgotten how to trust others." The teapot continued, looking sad as she spoke. The clock gasped, turning to them.

"You don't suppose he's been turned into a Heartless, do you?" he asked nervously, obviously concerned for the well-being of his master. The boys gasped in surprise.

"Heartless?" They gasped, surprised at the thought. Kyrie was silent before shaking her head, if he was a heartless, it would've showed.

"_No, I think he's just irritable." _she thought. Sora turned to them.

"If they're a part of this, then it's a good thing we're here." Sora spoke as he looked back between Donald, Goofy, and Kyrie.

"Let's go find the Beast!" Donald quacked.

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><p><strong>Okay, this was a boring chapter. I'm not going to lie, but it was. I didn't want to go too much into the Thresholder fight, because really, it was one of the more annyong boss fights and one of my least favorite.<strong>

**Oh, and happy Turkey day everyone! (and if you don't know what that is, it's Thanksgiving day here in the US, so...)**

**Anyways, please read and review!**


	13. Wake up, Beast!

**Okay so I know some of you have bee dying for some action, and some action I have given. ...Even though the fight with the Beast isn't exactly one of my favorite fights. Actually, it's one of the most unnecessary. But, oh well.**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

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><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 13

"Let's go find the Beast!" Donald quacked. The others smiled and agreed with the plan.

"Splendid!"

-A little while later-

After going into a secret passageway, Lumiere explained to them that they needed to use a contraption to unlock the secret door. The teapot, who's name was Mrs. Potts, followed after Sora as he and Lumiere ran ahead, putting out the dark fires. Meanwhile, Kyrie assisted the clock, who's name was Cogsworth, as he held on to the lever for dear life. The little teacup, who she learned was named Chip, waited by her side patiently until Mrs. Potts came back for them.

As they walked, Chip looked at the girl curiously before looking at his mother.

"Mama, why is she so quiet? Is she sick?" he asked loudly. Mrs. Potts quickly turned to him, shocked that he would say such a thing.

"Chip! That's very rude, young man! Now I want you to apologize to this young lady for offending her." she reprimanded. The little teacup gave a sad nod before looking at her.

"I'm really sorry-" he started, but stopped when she smiled and picked him up, shaking her head as she did so. Goofy, listening in on the conversation, spoke up.

"Aw, it's okay little buddy. Kyrie can't talk at all, that's why she's so quiet." he explained. The teapot and her son looked at her.

"Oh my, I'm so sorry to hear that…" she spoke, but Kyrie simply smiled at her. She didn't really mind anymore when people asked if something was wrong, she had long gotten over that. Grabbing her notebook, she wrote before holding it so they could see.

**It's alright, Mrs. Potts. And don't worry Chip, you didn't offend me. Everyone asks that, so I'm used to it.**

The teapot and her child smiled at her and she smiled right back.

"You're really nice, Kyrie." Chip complimented, making the girl blush. With that, they continued on. They were silent until they reached Sora and Lumiere, who were standing in front of a stone wall.

"Are we ready?" Sora asked. Lumiere nodded.

"Oui. The secret door should open now." Lumiere answered. The four looked around, but there was no door to be found.

"But I don't see any secret door." Goofy spoke, pointing to the wall. Cogsworth nodded as he cleared his throat.

"No need to worry. Just push that block over there… the one that's sticking out." Cogsworth explained, pointing to a small block that stuck out from the wall, opposite from the rest. Sora nodded.

"Got it." He spoke. With that, he walked forward and pushed the block in, causing the wall to slid into the ceiling as a secret door was revealed. Not wanting to waste any time, the group proceeded on until they got to a small landing. Once there, Lumiere turned to them.

"Now, I must check on the castle. I fear my absence has been too long." He explained. Mrs. Potts nodded as she nudged Chip.

"I'd best be off, too dears." Mrs. Potts added. The group nodded as they left, Sora calling out to them.

"Watch out for Heartless!" he called. As soon as they were gone, Cogsworth turned to them.

"The master's room is at the very end of the West Wing. I shall go on ahead and wait for you." He explained. They nodded before Kyrie walked forward and picked the little clock, having him protest as she did so.

"W-what's the meaning of this? Put me down!" he shouted. Kyrie merely pulled out her notebook with one hand, and while cradling the clock in the crook of her arm, wrote.

**I'm sorry for picking you up, but I'd rather if one of us accompanied you. There might be heartless lurking about, and not to be rude, but I don't think you would stand a chance against them.**

The clock read her words before sighing in defeat, knowing her words rang true.

"Ah, very well. You can accompany me." then he looked at Sora and the others.

"Your lady friend seems to want to be my bodyguard, would you mind if I borrowed her for a short while?" he asked. Sora nodded, noticing the worried look Kyrie was giving the little clock.

"Sure, we don't mind. Kyrie's a great fighter." he answered. The two nodded, and with that, Kyrie walked away, with Cogsworth in her arms. She walked through the doors and into a dark hallway, with more creepy gargoyles and stone floors. Taking a hesitant look around, Kyrie walked forward until she got to the stairs. That's when a few soldiers appeared, leaping at her with both her and Cogsworth in their sights.

Summoning her Lost Memory keyblade, she kept a tight hold on the little clock as she knocked the soldiers away and sent them into the wall, making them disappear instantly.

She stood still for a few moments once they were gone, before she started walking again. Cogsworth immediately pointed ahead of them where she could see a long, narrow hallway and a door.

"There, that's the master's chamber!" he whispered. Kyrie nodded and as she got closer, she could hear a muffled conversation taking place. Kyrie couldn't understand what was begin said, but she could recognize one of the voices.

"_Xaldin! What's he doing here?" _she thought as she listened. Now she understood why she felt a familiar dark presence earlier, it was him.

"_And if he's here, there's no doubt he's the reason why the Beast is acting abnormal. Xaldin always liked using people's feelings against them." _her thoughts continued. Hearing footsteps from behind her, she turned and spotted Sora, Donald, and Goofy as they approached. Once everyone was together, Sora opened the door and they walked in.

"What? To be loved and loved in return? Who could ever love a beast?" a voice taunted. Inside the room was the Beast and a man in a black cloak, who Kyrie knew almost instantly. At his words, the Beast whipped his head around and let out a roar of anger. Xaldin seemed to ignore this, as he indicated the five.

"See? She has accomplices." He spoke, pointing at them. Kyrie took a step in front of Sora, glaring at him. Without further ado, he waved his hand and opened a corridor before disappearing. Kyrie relaxed a little, but quickly stiffened when Sora walked over, waving.

"Hey, Prince!" he smiled. But the Beast quickly glared at him and roared at them, causing Donald to fall over as Kyrie held Cogsworth tightly, fearing the little clock would get damaged.

"Oh dear! Master!" he cried, panicking as the Beast lunged. Kyrie reached out and grabbed Sora's arm as she jumped out of the way, pulling him with her. After that, she allowed the clock to go to his master as he, Sora, Donald, and Goofy tried to get the Beast to come to his senses.

The Beast roared and thrashed about, knocking poor Donald into the door and sweeping Goofy off his feet as his face hit the floor. Kyrie jumped and dodged his swipes, but she had to summon her keyblades to defend herself from his sharp claws. Sora turned to her, dodging a swipe from the Beast as he did so.

"Kyrie, don't hurt him! He's being controlled!" he begged. She looked at him and nodded as the Beast went after her once more, slamming both paws against her keyblades as she held them over her head, in an 'X' formation. She grunted as he began to push her back.

"_Better hurry up, guys! If he doesn't stop, I might have to use force to take him down!"_ she thought as he continued to push her back, making her legs tremble from the amount of force on them.

"Master, please, control yourself!" she heard Cogsworth shout. The Beast wince at his voice, and jumped away from Kyrie, holding his head tightly. She looked at the clock and gave him a swift nod.

"_Thanks Cogsworth!" _she thought as she ran in again, using herself as bait to lure the Beast closer to Cogsworth. It was clear that whatever the clock was doing, it was waking the beast up. But just as she ran in, the Beast reared back, roaring and taking a swipe at the little clock. Gasping, she changed course and grabbed Cogsworth before the Beast could harm him.

"Beast, wake up!" Sora cried as he, Donald, and Goofy tried to hold him back. She could hear a large intake of breath and looked down, to see Cogsworth preparing himself to shout once more. Setting him on his feet, she took a few steps beside him, just in case the Beast were to attack.

"Master, please, control yourself!" he cried. He seemed to snap out of whatever was controlling him.

The Beast fell on all fours as he placed a massive paw against his head, having finally come to his senses thanks to Sora, Donald, Goofy, Cogsworth, and Kyrie. Cogsworth took a few tentative steps forward before the Beast looked at him.

"Cogsworth…what happened?" Beast asked, he was still in a daze as he tried to remember what had been going on.

"Well, Master…ah, you see…that is…How shall I say…ah, actually…mmm…" he stammered as he placed a small hand under his chin.

"Well, you put everybody down there in that dungeon!" Donald started. The Beast looked at him in confusion.

"I did what?" The Beast asked, appalled by his actions. Cogsworth nodded.

"Ah…you did!" he added. The Beast looked at the floor sadly, ashamed that he did such a terrible thing. Now that he wasn't so angry and violent, Kyrie felt bad for the Beast. Especially since he had someone who's as conniving as Xaldin pulling the strings. Sora looked around before finally breaking the silence.

"Who was that guy you were talking to? The one in the black?" he asked. The Beast immediately snapped his head up angrily.

"Xaldin… that's his name. He came from the darkness… he… used my anger to control me." he paused for a moment before continuing.

"He took all my sorrow, my sadness, my pain… and turned it all into rage. There was nothing I could do…I could no longer see the truth." He explained as he stood, staring at his massive paws. Goofy nodded as he slapped his fist against his open palm.

"Well, I'll be. That must be why you threw all of your friends down there into the dungeon. You wanted to make sure that you didn't hurt 'em, right?" Goofy spoke, smiling at him. The Beast looked at him uncertainly.

"Was that it? Was it to protect them?" He asked. Goofy nodded.

"Sure. We know you're good inside." He answered. Sora and Donald nodded, while Kyrie just shrugged her shoulders. She didn't know the Beast as long as they did, so she didn't really have an opinion on him.

"He's right, Master. We've all seen how kind you can be. After all, Belle can see the goodness in your heart, but I'm afraid you've yet to…" Cogsworth started, but drifted off when the Beast stiffened at Belle's name.

"Belle!" He gasped before slumping forward, continuing, "I've mistreated her… I've mistreated her and been so selfish." Sora looked at the others and raised his eyebrow, before turning back to him.

"She didn't say anything about that." Sora spoke, obviously confused. The Beast shook his head.

"She'd never tell anyone of my cruelty…She's too good." He explained. Cogsworth leaned his head towards them, holding his hand so that it was hiding his mouth.

"You see, I'm afraid he judges himself far too harshly." He whispered. Sora was silent before an idea popped into his head.

"Why don't you just go talk to her?" Sora suggested. The Beast looked away uncertainly.

"But…"

"No excuses! C'mon, we'll go with you." he insisted. The Beast gave a small nod and the group proceeded out of the room. Kyrie was hesitant and stayed as far from the Beast as she could, feeling even tinier compared to his large stature. The Beast looked at her from the corner of his eye as she hid behind Goofy, who allowed the Beast to walk ahead of him thanks to the narrow hallway.

"You have a new friend?" he asked. Sora looked at Kyrie, who was hiding behind Goofy, and nodded.

"Yeah, this is Kyrie. She's traveling with us for awhile." he explained. The Beast nodded as he extended his massive paw out.

"Hello. It's nice to meet you." he spoke bashfully, the gesture a little awkward with him. Kyrie gave a small smile and a nod as she reached out and shook his paw, surprised that he was being so gentle with the gesture. Sora smiled at them before continuing.

"Kyrie's mute, so that's her way of saying "Nice to meet you too."." he explained. The Beast nodded in understanding as they continued on.

Once they got through the west wing and the entrance hall, they finally got to the east wing and made it to Belle's room. When they got inside, they were surprised to see only the wardrobe there.

"Master!" she exclaimed. The Beast looked around in confusion before Donald spoke to her.

"Everybody's safe now." He declared, making the wardrobe smile brightly at him.

"Wonderful! Thank you!" She sighed in relief. The Beast finally turned his attention to her since Belle was nowhere in the room.

"Where's Belle?" He asked. The wardrobe was silent for a moment as she thought.

"Why, she left in a hurry. Something about going after this… man in black." She explained. The Beast snarled angrily.

"What?" Beast demanded, snarling as he did so. "Why doesn't she do as she's told?" he continued, turning it into a rant. The wardrobe shook her head at him.

"Temper, temper! Her spirit is what makes Belle so special." She tsked. Before the Beast could continue his yelling rant, Sora stopped him.

"We'd better go find her!" He spoke, turning to the wardrobe. She nodded as everyone began to leave the room. Once they got to the entrance hall however, they could hear a muffled voice as it yelled.

"I'm warning you! You'll be sorry!"

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><p><strong>Alright, so there's some action to hopefully keep you guys content until the next chapter. Reason why...the next chapter has WAY more action and WAY more fluff. <strong>

**So please, read and review.**


	14. Happy Birthday, Kyrie!

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

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><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 14

"Belle! Where are you?"

Without even thinking, Kyrie ran in the direction of the ballroom, in the direction of Belle's voice.

"_Let me be there in time…!" _Kyrie thought as she summoned both keyblades, kicking the doors open just as Belle opened doors that led outside. Kyrie saw a black, orb-like creature covered in chains as it chased her, and ran in. Getting between it and Belle, she delivered a blow to its face, sending it reeling backwards. Grabbing Belle's arm, she pulled the girl outside.

"Belle!"

"I'm alright!" Belle called back as Kyrie pulled the doors shut. The second she did that, however, darkness covered the doors and she pulled Belle back, afraid that something terrible would happen if either of them touched the darkness-covered doors. She looked at Belle and quickly whipped out her notebook.

**Belle, are you alright?**

She nodded.

"Yes, I am. Thank you for protecting me." she answered. Kyrie gave her a small smile before looking at the doors again. She could hear what was going on inside, and was worried for Sora's safety. As well as Donald's, Goofy's, and even the Beast. Deciding to take action, she grabbed the door handles and gasped when the darkness stung her, pulling her hands back.

"_Ow! That hurt…" _she thought as she looked at her hands, surprised to see small burns. But she wouldn't give up. Grabbing the door handles again, they began to sting her, but she wouldn't let go.

"_I have to…help Sora! I have to!" _she thought as she pulled and tugged on the doors, but they wouldn't budge. Seeing the girl in obvious pain, Belle tried to stop her.

"Wait, you're hurting yourself! Stop!" she cried as she grabbed her shoulder. But the second she did that, their bodies began to glow with a bright light. And a voice called out to them.

"**Princess of Heart, Princess of Light, you both are connected by unbreakable bonds. Use your powers together and open these doors of darkness!" **Kyrie recognized the voice, it was the same disembodied voice that always gave her advice and help. The two girls looked at each other and nodded as Belle placed both hands on Kyrie's right arm, closing their eyes as she did so. Immediately the stinging stopped, and when she opened her eyes, the doors handles were back to normal. Turning to Belle, she gave her a stern look. Belle nodded.

"Very well, I'll stay here. But please be careful, and don't get hurt." she spoke cautiously. Kyrie nodded and opened the doors, running inside. She wasn't surprised that the doors slammed shut behind her, but was surprised when she spotted the chained heartless that chased Belle beginning to transform. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and the Beast had it surrounded, but after hearing the doors slam did they look at her.

"Kyrie!" Sora, Donald, and Goofy cried in unison. Kyrie nodded, but kept her eyes glued to that of the heartless. It disappeared in a orb of darkness, only to reappear completely transformed. It looked similar to an ifrit, with manacles on its hands, a heart-shaped whole in its chest, and its black and red body. The heartless roared at the ceiling before jumping, grabbing the ceiling candelabra and pulling it to the floor. The gang barely managed to avoid it as the heartless swung it around, catching Kyrie's foot and dragging her with it.

"_Aah!" _her thoughts screamed as the candelabra spun, spinning her with it while the heartless held on to the chain at the center. She closed her eyes tightly, trying not to let herself get sick.

"_Ugh…g-gonna…throw up!" _she thought as her body felt the weight and pull of the spins. As soon at it was done spinning, her found herself flying and landing on something firm, but also surprisingly soft. Opening her eyes, she gasped. She had landed right on top. Of. The. Heartless!

"_Oh shi- yeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" _she thought as it roared and began rampaging, with her clinging to its back as it did so. Sora caught sight of her as the heartless rampaged, throwing Donald out of its way as Goofy caught him.

"Kyrie, what are you doing?" he called in alarm. She glared at him as the heartless went after Beast.

"_Oh yes Sora, I just thought I go for a little piggyback ride and use this heartless as my- what do you think I'm doing you idiot! Help me!" _her thoughts screamed as the heartless bucked and jumped, trying to get the clinging girl off of its back. Beast caught sight of the girl and roared.

"I'm coming!" he roared. She nodded as she held on, not knowing what would happen if she were to let go. And she didn't want to find out anyways.

But the heartless dodged the Beast as he tried to swipe Kyrie from its back, and strangely…Kyrie found herself having fun as she rode it, the heartless bucking and trying to throw her off its back.

"_This is just like one of those rodeo-things that I watched on TV with Xigbar back in the World that Never Was! Whee!" _she thought as she sat up, using one hand to keep a firm grip on its mane and the other held in the air, like she had saw the people on TV do. Sora and the others stopped as they watched her ride the heartless, smiling as she did so. Donald sighed, shaking his head.

"Looks like she's having fun." he sighed, scowling. Noticing Sora's envious look, Donald glared at him. "And don't do it, Sora." Sora pouted.

"Aw man…it looks like fun…" he sighed. He quickly went serious and called out to her. "Kyrie, this isn't the time to mess around! Use your keyblades!" he called. Kyrie looked at him and nodded, letting go of the mane and summoning both keyblades.

"_Alright, here goes!" _she thought as she drove both of them into its back, making it scream and buck violently, throwing her off its back and into the air. She flew and landed on the ceiling candelabra, getting stuck in one of the branches as her stomach rested on the branch, her legs and feet dangling beneath her. She watched as Sora and Beast rushed in and delivered the final blow, making the heartless disappear and the ballroom return to normal.

"We did it!" Sora and the gang cheered, jumping happily as they pumped their fists into the air. Kyrie watched this from above as she tried to get free of the branch she was stuck on, but it was no use. She was stuck.

"So you think." she looked over and spotted Xaldin, with his hood up, as he stared at them. He began to vanish as they ran to him, and he looked at her once more. She glared right back, and he looked at Sora.

"Farewell." and he was gone. Once he was gone, Beast turned to them, and she couldn't hear what was being said next. She sighed, allowing herself to dangle as she watched them mumble to each other.

"_Uh, hello! Sora, Donald, Goofy Beast… Axel, anyone, someone please get me down!" _she thought as she tried to get herself unstuck again, but she paused. If she were to fall from such a height…she shuddered.

"_Never mind. I'll just stay up here." _

"You're alright!" looking down, she spotted Belle as she ran to them, relief on her face. Beast ran to her, and she couldn't hear what was being said next. She watched as Belle wagged her finger at him, before crossing her arms. After a few minutes of talking, the keyblade glowed and another keyhole appeared, making Kyrie's heart flutter and something blossom inside her. Once it was unlocked, Belle looked around.

"Didn't Kyrie come here? I saw her open the doors and run in…" Belle asked. Sora paled, and he looked around. The others began looking too, as they searched the ballroom. But not one of them looked up, making her irritated as she hung there.

"Kyrie!" he called.

"Kyrie!" Donald called as well.

"Kyrie, where are ya!" Goofy hollered. Kyrie managed to slip off one of her shoes, and with a swift kick, sent it flying at Sora's head. It hit its mark with a resounding thud as Sora cried out and rubbed his head.

"Ow! What the-" looking down, he spotted her shoe and looked up, to see her dangling from the ceiling candelabra, glaring at him with her arms crossed over her chest..

"Uh…just found her."

-Later-

After getting Kyrie out of the candelabra, the gang decided to spend a night at the castle since it was so late, and they had been in action all day. From fighting Shan-Yu to helping Beast regain his senses and fighting the heartless, Dark Thorn.

Kyrie stayed in the East Wing, at the furthest room away from Belle's. Sora, Donald, and Goofy were staying in the West wing, since there were rooms that the Beast didn't destroy available for them. After giving the housekeepers specific instructions for how to come in, Kyrie immediately jumped into bed and snuggled against the soft pillows, sighing in contentment.

"_Ah…finally. A real bed." _she thought as she buried her face against the pillows. It was 11:30 at night, and all of the others were most likely asleep now. But Kyrie was too excited to sleep, and she didn't know why.

"_Maybe it's because something important is going on tomorrow. But…what?" _she thought as she stared at the canopy above her bed. After a few minutes, she stood up and walked over to the wardrobe, surprised that this one didn't talk back to her, and opened it. Inside were a few dresses and nightgowns, and after browsing, she chose a light lilac one and changed into it.

Once she was done, it was 11:50, and she found herself getting more excited. But also more frustrated, because she didn't know why she was so excited.

"_Why? What is so important that it's making me feel jumpy and full of energy?" _she thought as she pulled her star plush out of her backpack and stared at it. Suddenly a sound of a corridor opening made her jump as she sat up and stared at an opened corridor with wide eyes.

Just as she was about to summon her keyblades, Axel stepped out of the corridor, arms behind his back and a smile on his face. She sighed in relief, it wasn't Xaldin or any of the other members. Axel's smile turned into a grin as he spotted her laying on the bed.

"Surprise!" he grinned. She glared at him before grabbing a pillow and tossing it at his head. It made contact and fell to the floor as he used one hand and scratched his head, seemingly unaffected by being hit with the fluffy object.

"Hey, what was that for?" he asked, confused. She pulled out her notebook and wrote in it before showing it.

**Axel, you scared me half to death! I thought you were Xaldin!**

The pyro raised his eyebrow before realization crossed his features.

"Oh yeah, lance-man's here too. But that's not important. It's about twelve o' clock now so… Happy 18th birthday!" and with that, his other hand shot out and inside it was a box poorly wrapped with a red bow. She stared at it in confusion before raising her eyebrow at him. His smile faded before he realized, she didn't remember anything! So of course she wouldn't know when her birthday was! She grabbed her notebook and wrote more before showing it to him.

**Axel, what are you talking about? What's a birthday?**

He sighed and shook his head, at times she acted like a curious child.

"A birthday is the day when someone was born. People celebrate their birthdays every year with presents, parties, cake, and other ways." he explained. She nodded before writing more.

**So how do you know that today is my birthday?**

He scratched his head in embarrassment as he reached in and pulled another present out of his cloak. He placed both boxes on her lap as he sat down next to her, allowing his legs to dangle off the bed.

"That guy who served DiZ told me. He gave me the present and said it was from your grandfather. So I- …well…I decided to get you one too." he explained. She felt her heart throb painfully at this, so DiZ really did know her grandfather…

"So, what're you waiting for? Go on, open them!" he urged. She nodded as she picked up the poorly wrapped one and opened it, surprised at what was inside. Inside was a little bracelet with a charm in the shape and color of a sea-salt ice-cream bar. She picked it up and gazed at it admirably, it was beautiful.

"_Wow…he bought this for me?" _she thought as she gazed at it. A hand immediately took the bracelet out of her hands and she looked up to see Axel staring at her.

"Hold out your wrist, I'll put it on for you." he spoke, though it kinda sounded like an order. She nodded as she held out her left wrist, letting Axel clip the bracelet around her wrist, and it fit perfectly. The little charm dangled and she smiled, wrapping her arms around him as she hugged him. He smiled as he wrapped his arm around her as well, before she pulled away and wrote in her notebook.

**Thank you, Axel. This is wonderful, I love it so much.**

"Heh. You're welcome. Got it memorized?" he chuckled. She stared at the second present, pulling a white card and staring at it before opening it.

**Happy 18****th**** birthday, Kyrie.**

**It has been a long 11 years since you last celebrated your birthday, and even longer since I last gave you a card. You may not remember your birthdays, but you were 7 when you last celebrated your birthday. You always loved celebrating your birthday.**

**But I digress. I want to give you a present to mark you entry into adulthood, but to you it may mean nothing. Nevertheless, I wanted you to be happy on this special day, and this present will hopefully be enough. I love you, my beloved granddaughter, and we'll see each other again soon. I promise. **

**Love,**

**Your Grandfather**

Kyrie felt tears come to her eyes at the card and tried blinking them away so that they would disappear.

"_Oh grandfather…" _she thought as she tried to not cry. Axel's eyes stared at her as she tried to not cry, and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, trying his best to comfort her. Finally regaining her composure, she carefully opened the box and looked inside. Inside was a five point star charm.

It had silver frames with white stained glass for the inside of the points of the star, a silver heart in the center that resembled her necklace, and a small chain at the end of the top point that had another, smaller star at the end of the chain. The points were held together by sewed on silver thread, and the charm looked like it was glowing. She stared at it in awe before seeing another card at the bottom of the box. Placing the star on her lap, she picked up the card and read it.

**This star charm is called a Wayfinder, it resembles a star-shaped fruit found only on the Destiny Islands, and it represents the bond between friends. It will lead you home should you ever find yourself lost, and you will find your way back to your friends and loved ones. **

**It is traditionally made from seashells, but I improvised and made this instead. Another person made it this way long before I, so I used the same materials they did. You were always fascinated with the legends of this star-shaped fruit, and your mother made your doll as an imitation of it. I hope you love it.**

Kyrie read the card and picked up the star, before showing it to Axel. He nodded, looking at the charm.

"It's nice. You like it?" he asked. She nodded and smiled before pulling out her notebook.

**It's lovely. Thank you for the bracelet and delivering grandfather's present, I love them so much. Thank you.**

Axel smiled as she wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. He returned the hug, and, for the first time he… felt weird. He felt like…holding her close and never wanting to let her go.

What exactly… was he feeling?

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><p><strong>Aaaannnnd...here's that action-packed, fluff-filled chapter I promised! ...I get it. Not really as action-packed as some of you hoped, but I tried. Oh, and Kyrie's new wayfinder looks like Aqua's, Ven's, and Terra's, except white and has the heart from the KH logo in the center.<strong>

**Anyways, please read and review! ...Because I'm going to watch "Who framed Rodger Rabbit"!**


	15. Their plight

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

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><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 15

-Dreamscape, Axel-

The sounds of crashing waves and seagulls echoed in my ears as I stared at the ocean. The sun was setting, turning the sky from blue to red and orange, maybe even a little pink. I was standing on a familiar beach, listening to the sound of the waves, before I heard soft giggling. Turning, I spotted a familiar white-haired girl as she sat on a fallen tree, on a small island connected by a wooden path to the main one.

"_Kyrie?" _I thought. I immediately ran over, went through the shack, and found myself walking along the boardwalk as I approached her. She continued to sit on the fallen tree, gazing out into the ocean as the glistening water reflected from her brown irises. I always thought that her eyes were beautiful, like dark oak in a snow-covered forest.

She turned and smiled at me when she heard my approach, and patted the spot next to her. Taking the invitation, I sat next to her. We were silent for a few moments, just watching the sun set beyond the horizon. She moved closer to me, and for some weird reason, I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.

She gave a soft sigh and nuzzled into my chest, making my cheeks heat up and my insides feel…like there were a bunch of butterflies inside me. As corny as it sounded. I don't know what I was thinking, but I reached down with my free hand and took her chin, making her look up at me. Without me realizing what I was doing, I leaned down and kissed her.

-Out of dreamscape, Axel-

Axel shot up as he panted heavily, his cheeks bright red and a light sheen of sweat on his forehead. He looked around, and sighed. He was in the room Kyrie was staying in, sitting on one of the chairs. Looking over, he saw her on the other side on the queen-sized bed, sleeping peacefully. Groaning, he fell back on the chair, placing his arm against his head, covering his eyes.

"_That was some screwed up dream…" _he thought as he tried to calm himself down. But he couldn't, he dreamed that he was kissing Kyrie. Kyrie! His best friend! The girl that was a good couple of feet shorter than him, who had snow-white hair and brown eyes, who could kick ass and be sarcastic but at the same time be kind and compassionate.

Pulling his arm away, he looked over at her as she slept. Her hairclip was gone and resting on the nightstand, allowing the rest of her hair fall and cover her face. Her hands were tucked under her cheek, acting like a makeshift pillow, and her cheeks were flushed. He quickly got up and walked over, stopping as he sat on the bed and looked her over. Reaching over, he brushed her hair out of her face and scooted closer to her, scrutinizing her.

She was beautiful. The way her hair glimmered like fresh snow in the morning light, the way the sun touched her skin… He didn't know why, but right now, at this moment, he wanted to do nothing more than to kiss her.

And he decided to take the opportunity while he still had it. Leaning in towards her, he felt his stomach tingle, his chest warm up, and his hands feel cold and clammy. Just as his lips were about to touch hers-

There was a knock at the door.

"_Damn!" _he thought as he pulled away and sat up, glaring at the door. Whoever was knocking continued to knock, loudly.

"Kyrie, are you awake? You're going to miss breakfast!"

"Shh, Sora! She might be tired."

"But Goofy…"

"He's right, dears. We mustn't disturb her." well, at least one of them had some common courtesy. But the knocking continued, stirring Kyrie from her rest. Noticing that Axel was in the room sitting on the bed, she knocked on the wall twice, signaling for them not to come in and that she would be down soon.

"Huh? Okay so she knocked twice…what does that mean?"

"It means that she's awake and she'll be down soon. Now run along dears, she doesn't want us to intrude on her." and with that the knocking stopped and he could hear their footsteps as they walked away. Turning to her, he saw her rubbing her eyes as she yawned silently. He quickly got up and held out his hand to her, which she gladly took. He turned away, not once looking at her, afraid that she would catch the blush on his cheeks.

"I gotta go. I'll see you later, Kyrie." he mumbled. She nodded as he opened the corridor, allowing himself to look at her. She was staring at him sadly, her hand clasping the charm bracelet on her left wrist. He gave her a small smile, before walking through. Kyrie watched as the corridor disappeared, before sighing.

"_What's gotten into him?"_

-Later-

After biding Beast and Belle goodbye, the four had gotten onto the Gummi ship, only to have it steered towards Hollow Bastion by an unknown force. But they didn't mind.

Obviously they were being summoned there for a very important reason.

But once they got there, Kyrie decided they needed to get some shopping done. Stopping Sora as they headed towards the Borough, she pulled out her notebook and wrote something down.

**Sora, you go and see Leon and the others. I'm going to do some shopping, since we're low on potions and elixirs. Not to mention, we need more food.**

Sora nodded as he read this, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his munny, while Donald and Goofy did the same.

"Okay, but meet us at Merlin's house later, okay?" he spoke as they handed her the large amount of munny. Kyrie nodded and started towards the marketplace, while the three boys continued on to Merlin's house. While browsing, she found a large assortment of protective charms, armor, weapons, and other combat-related items; as well as potions, ethers, elixirs, and mega-potions.

"_Wow, so much stuff to by, so little time." _Kyrie thought with a smile as she grabbed a few potions, paying for them before moving to the next store. After hitting up a few more shops, she decided to head to Merlin's house and see how the group was doing without her, bags in hand.

But when she got there, she was surprised to see the three with a old man, wearing a strange, old-fashioned, wizard's outfit. They turned to her and stared at her in surprise.

"Kyrie! Man that was quick!" Sora gasped. Kyrie deadpanned before carefully setting the bags down and pulling out her notebook.

**Sora, I've been gone for over an hour! That's not quick, by any means.**

Sora nodded before the old man spoke.

"Kyrie? Ah yes yes, you're the girl with no voice or memories. I've heard much about you." the man spoke. She nodded before he turned to the boys.

"Would you three go and take these bags to the Gummi ship? There is much that I want to discuss with this young lady, if you wouldn't mind." the man explained, turning to the three. They stared at him blankly for a moment before Kyrie nudged them and pointed to the bags. They snapped out of their daze and nodded at him.

"Sure Merlin. We'll do it." Sora answered. With that, he, Donald, and Goofy grabbed the bags of items and groceries and started for the ship, leaving Merlin and Kyrie alone in the house.

"Now that that's taken cared of, follow me." Merlin spoke as he cleared his throat, motioning for her to follow him as he walked towards the large table piled high with books. Kyrie followed, taking a seat as he sat down and folded his hands on the table and adjusted his glasses.

"Now you're probably wondering why I've asked for you to stay behind while Sora and the others go and put your groceries and whatnot away." Kyrie's blank look confirmed his suspicions and he continued.

"I've gotten word on the wind from another powerful sorcerer how you came to find yourself in Twilight town, and Leon and the others told me that you felt some familiarity when they first found you unconscious in the Bailey. Now I can give you some information, but it has been a long 11 years since Hollow Bastion had been taken by the darkness, so there are gaps that I may not be able to fill." he explained. She nodded before grabbing her notebook and writing.

**Please Mr. Merlin, tell me everything that you know. **

He nodded.

"Very well, I shall tell you. Now I actually met you a few times when you were young, so I do know some things about you. You were the granddaughter of Ansem the Wise, and daughter of Akio, his son, and Mizuki, his daughter in-law. You lived in the castle with your parents and grandfather, but often snuck out to play with the other children." he explained. She nodded, waiting for him to continue.

"But sadly, that is all I can remember. I do remember that your parents were killed, and that not long after that, the world was taken by the darkness. But otherwise… I am sorry." he finished. Kyrie nodded sadly, it wasn't much, but at least she got some information about her grandfather and her parents. Grabbing her notebook, she began to write.

**Thank you, Mr. Merlin. At least now I know who my parents were, and my grandfather.**

The old wizard nodded as she got up to leave. But while passing a stack of books, something caught her eye. On top of the books, was an old book, the title worn out so you couldn't read it. But that wasn't what stopped her. For some reason, something inside her was telling her to pick up that book. Picking it up, she was surprised that the pages were still in tact, despite that a few were missing.

"_This book…something about it…" _turning to Merlin, she held up the book, making the old wizard stare at her curiously.

"Ah yes, that? Well, you may borrow it, but it is very old and a few pages are missing, so you might find yourself unable to read certain chapters. But I will look for them, if you wish." she nodded and he smiled.

"Very well, now go on. Sora and the others are waiting." he chuckled. She gave him a small bow and ran out of the house, cradling the book against her chest as she did so. He watched her go before stroking his beard, lost in thought.

"Now I wonder why on earth she would grab that one. All it describes is the legend of the Princess of Light and Prince of Darkness, as well as Kingdom Hearts…"

-Later-

"Man Kyrie, I thought you were never coming! What were you and Merlin talking about, anyways?" Sora asked as he lounged on his chair, the Gummi ship currently heading to a new world. Kyrie was silent before looking at him, scowling as she did so. She quickly grabbed her notebook and began to write.

**Sora, it's very rude to ask about someone else's conversation! Especially a girls' conversation! **

His eyes widened and he surrendered.

"Okay, okay! I'm sorry!" he cried. She smiled and ruffled his hair, she couldn't stay mad at him for long. He protested as she continued messing with his hair, laughing as he did so.

"Kyrie, stop! Kyrie- ah ha ha ha!" he cried as he tried to stop her. She only smiled and kept going, before something caught Sora's eye.

"Hey, Kyrie, what's that on your wrist?" blinking, she looked down at the bracelet that Axel had given her the night before. Blushing, she pulled her wrist away and covered it with her other hand. Donald and Goofy looked at her too, curious on why she was blushing.

"Gawrsh Kyrie, your face is all red." Goofy pointed out, chuckling. She looked away before Donald tapped his foot, his arms crossed.

"Well? Aren't you gonna answer Sora's question?" he asked. Kyrie was silent, how the heck was she gonna explain this? She thought for a few minutes, before grabbing her notebook and writing.

**Today's my birthday, so I spent some of my munny in Hollow Bastion and got myself this charm bracelet.**

"Your birthday? But didn't you lose your memories?" Sora asked. She nodded before writing more.

**Yes, but some things are coming back. Like today, I remembered that it's my birthday.**

It was a little white lie, but they didn't need to know that Axel got it for her, and told her that today was her birthday.

"Gawrsh, why didn't ya tell us? We coulda got you something'." Goofy spoke, his eyes drooping. Kyrie shook her head, smiling as she wrote.

**No, Goofy. It's alright, today's been great enough, you guys don't have to get me anything.**

"But we do! Birthdays are special!" Donald explained. Again, she shook her head and wrote more.

**You all are so sweet, but it's okay. Just being with me today is enough, I couldn't ask for more.**

The three smiled and blushed a little, before a question popped into Sora's head.

"So since today's your birthday, how old are you now? Er…I mean…can you remember how old you are?" he asked. She looked down at the bracelet and sighed. Axel told her she was now 18, same with her grandfather in his card. She began to write.

**I'm 18. Today's my 18****th**** birthday.**

"18? But you're smaller than me!" Sora gasped. Immediately she glared at him and placed her hands on her hips. He gulped, and backed up a few steps.

"Oops. Er…sorry." he chuckled embarrassingly, scratching the back of his head. She huffed and sat down, before looking at the old worn-out book Merlin had allowed her to borrow. Picking it up, she examined it before the ship began to shake, causing her to drop the book as she held on to her seat tightly.

"Hey, what's going on?" Donald cried as he ran to the controls. Goofy and Sora jumped back into their seats, buckling up and holding on for dear life as the ship continued to shake and rattle.

"Donald, what's happening?"

"Something's attacking us and one of the hatches is open! Somebody's gotta close it!"

"I'll close it."

"Don't, Sora! You could fall out, an' we'd never see you again!"

"But Goofy-"

"Kyrie, what're you doing?"

Kyrie grunted as she approached the opened hatch, grabbing the door as she tried to close it. But the wind outside was pulling at her, trying to suck her out of the ship.

"_Ugh…gotta…close this-" _at that moment, her foot slipped, and she found herself hanging on the handle, her body hovering in the air as she held on for dear life. Looking down, she could see the world and gulped, if she fell from this height…

"Kyrie, hang on!" looking up, she saw Sora as he reached out to her, Goofy holding him from behind so the boy wouldn't join her in this predicament. She nodded as she held on tightly, reaching her hand up so she could grab his, but she couldn't reach him.

"_I can't hang on…" _she thought as her fingers began to tire and slip from the handle, inching her ever closer to her impending demise. Then, her last finger slipped free and she found herself falling.

"Kyrie!" Sora shouted as she fell. Kyrie looked at the ground, and an idea popped into her head.

"_I have to use the keyblade, it's the only chance that I have!" _summoning her white kingdom key, she pointed it below her.

"_Please, keyblade, take me somewhere safe!" _she thought. With that, a beam of light shot out of the keyblade and a light corridor formed, swallowing her up as she fell through.

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><p><strong>Aren't I a stinker? Well, I guess you're going to have to wait until the next time I update to know what happens next!<strong>

**Please read and review!**


	16. Where am I?

**...*sniffles* You guys are so awesome...**

**Axel:...The author is crying?**

**Demyx: I think she's finally lost it.**

**Me: No, I did not lose my sanity! I'm just stating how wonderful my reviewers and the fans of my story are!**

**Roxas: That and you might have created a following for AxelxKyrie...**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 16

Kyrie didn't know where she was. All she could see and feel was darkness, a thick darkness that zapped at her strength. Opening her eyes, she found herself inside a dark cave, with a thick white fog flowing in the air. Lanterns alight with green fire lined the cave, meaning that someone or something obviously walked through the caves often.

"_Ugh…I'm so tired…" _she thought as she tried to sit herself up, but the darkness was stronger here, more so than on most of the worlds she had visited. Well, maybe not as strong as the World that Never Was, but she had grown accustomed to living there and the world itself hovered between darkness and nothingness. And most of the time, the nothingness negated the effects of the darkness.

"Kyrie?" flinching, she looked up and saw a man dressed in black, but she knew the voice.

"_Demyx?" _she thought as she stared at him. He quickly pulled down his hood and she sighed in relief, it was Demyx. The young man smiled at her before kneeling down next to her and helping her to sit up.

"Oh man, it is you! What're you doing here? Wait, never mind that. It's great to see you!" he spoke, before giving her a light hug. She smiled and nodded before closing her eyes, her strength was going, and fast. Demyx stared at her face before looking at her worriedly. Her skin was pale and sickly, almost as white as her hair.

"Uh… Kyrie? Are you okay? You look really pale…" he asked. She shook her head and looked around blearily for her notebook, spotting her backpack right next to her. Grabbing it, she opened and found her notebook and pen. Opening her notebook, she began to write.

**Demyx, I have to get out of here. The darkness, it's draining away my strength. If I don't get out of here soon…I'll…**

She dropped her pen, it was getting even harder to write. Demyx nodded as he stood, looking around in a rush before looking back at her.

"C'mon, first I need to get you out of this part of the underworld. There's a ton of heartless lurking around, and they'd get you in a second." he explained as he scooped her up, holding her as he began running.

She simply rested her head against his shoulder, too weak to care about anything at the moment. After running for a little bit, they arrived at an inner chamber, and Kyrie could feel that the darkness was even stronger here than where Demyx found her. He quickly placed her down before looking around.

"Okay, you stay here and I'll go look for somewhere safe to leave you. I'm sure superior wouldn't mind if I helped you first." with that, he opened a dark corridor and stepped through, taking one last glance at her before it closed behind him. She gave him a weak nod and rested against the cave walls. All was quiet for awhile, before she could hear the distant sound of footsteps and voices bickering.

"_Who…?" _she thought as she closed her eyes. She felt herself starting to drift, trying to get back into the world of sleep. She was almost pulled out of her daze when she felt two presences standing before her.

"Huh? What's a girl doing down here?"

"Whaddya mean, Panic? She's dead, of course she'd be down here!"

"She's not dead, Pain, look again! Oh my, what're we going to do? If Lord Hades sees this girl alive-"

"If he sees her alive. IF."

"If…If is good."

"Huh? What're you two idiots bickerin' about? You've got work ta do!" she recognized this voice. It was Pete.

"Huh? Hey, it's that girl that hangs around that punk! Uh…Sora!"

And that was the last thing she heard.

…

….

She didn't know how long she was out, but she came to when she felt someone nudging her foot.

"Is she dead?"

"I don't think so. Her foot twitched."

"Well well, here I thought you'd found me the perfect person to take out that annoying Hercules, but all you found was a little girl, a little lassie, a little snowflake." she felt her eyebrow twitch at the mysterious person's words.

"'_Snowflake'?" _she thought. Opening her eyes, she saw a man with blue skin and a head alit with blue fire, dressed in dark robes. There were two smaller creatures beside him, one redish-pink and the other a mix of blue and green. Behind them, she saw a familiar face and her eyes narrowed.

"_Pete."_

"Oh, so she's awake. Well hello little snowflake-" the man stopped when she summoned both keyblades and pointed them at him, glaring at him as her lips formed a snarl. She knew she was in deep trouble, and she had to find a way to escape, fast.

But the man simply smirked, putting a hand to his chin.

"Well well, she can wield those too, huh? Now what were they called again? Uh…"

"Keyblades, your godliness." the red one answered. He nodded.

"That's right, keyblades! Just like the one that brat had when he ruined my plans last year. Oh man did that burn me up…" he spoke as he looked her over. Pete looked from behind him and smirked.

"Ha ha! Look at ya, all weak now because you can't handle the darkness! Serves ya right, after what you did to my head back at ol' Yen Sid's-" suddenly he was cut off when she chucked her Kingdom Key at him, causing him to yelp and duck as it flew over his head and landed in the wall behind him. The man began to laugh.

"Oh-ho! Seems this little snowflake has fire in her, that's how I like 'em! But is it enough for my plans?" he chuckled. Suddenly, a dark corridor formed from behind them, and they turned to see a green-skinned woman with the weirdest headdress she had ever seen walk out of it. She carried a staff and had a crow on her shoulder as she glared at Pete.

"Pete, you impudent oaf! You are supposed to be gathering heartless, not standing around like an idiot!" she berated, glaring at him. He nodded as he stood up.

"O-of course, Maleficent! You see I was about to teach this brat a lesson and turn her into a heartless." he explained, pointing to Kyrie. The woman, Maleficent, stared at the girl curiously before her eyes widened.

"It can't be…" moving forward, she stood in front of the girl and scrutinized her, something that made Kyrie very uncomfortable. The men behind her looked at each other in confusion before looking at her.

"Uh, Maleficent, what-"

"Can't you see, you fools? This is the Princess of light, one of the guardians of Kingdom Hearts!"

"Kingdom Hearts?"

"_Huh?" _Kyrie thought weakly as she stared at the woman.

"Yes, this is her. She was the one who created the Seven Princesses of Heart, to act as her guides, messengers, and even her eyes. That is one of the reasons when you gather the princesses of heart, the final door opens!" she explained. She stared at Maleficent in blatant confusion, there was no way in the seven hells that she was this "Princess of Light".

"But if she's connected to Kingdom Hearts, ain't she supposed to be guarding it?" Pete asked. She gave him a small, malicious smile before turning to the girl.

"All the more reason to take her now, especially since she's weak-" she started as she reached toward her, but her hand was stopped by a flash of light and a flurry of sparks, causing her to curse as she pulled her hand back.

"_**No one with pure darkness and evil in their heart will touch my body, not as long as I still exist." **_Kyrie gasped at this voice, it was feminine and it was like wind chimes, light and melodious. It was a disembodied voice, but it wasn't the one that always talked to her. So…who was this?

"_Who are you?"_

"_**I am you. I am the part of you that plays the silent hero, I am the real you. Remember me, remember yourself, remember your life, and remember your purpose… your reason to live." **_and with that, the voice faded away. Maleficent glared at her as she clutched her burned hand.

"Hmph. It seems she still has strength to resist. Pete!"

"Y-yes ma'am!"

"Keep her here, until she is weak enough so that you can bring her to me." and with that, she gave off a sickening and ear-splitting cackle as she disappeared into the darkness. Kyrie glared at the spot the woman had once stood before turning her attention to the men. The blue one smirked at her.

"She's that powerful, huh? Maybe she can take down wonder boy…"

"But Hades, Maleficent doesn't want her anywhere near light. Where that Hercules is full of light, she'd get strong again and-"

"Shut up, you idiot! …But you're right, she would get strong and probably run the second she got to a light source…" he turned and began to think, and Kyrie found herself getting even weaker. Whatever Maleficent had tried to do, it made her weaker. But she had to stay conscious.

Or it would mean the end of her.

-A little while Later-

"Where do they dig these freaks up? Geez, Louise." Hades spoke as he sat on his thrown, holding his head lazily with one hand. Pete nodded as he stood with Pain, the red creature, and Panic, the blue-green one.

"Oh, they're nuttin' but trouble, the whole lot of 'em. So, uh…what're you gonna do about Hercules? He's made mince meat outta every fighter you sent at him." he paused for a moment before continuing.

"Pretty soon the Underworld's gonna be standing room only. Say, why don't you just pick someone already dead and save him the trouble?" he suggested. With that, Hades jumped to his feet and glared at him, making him flinch and cover his head. Kyrie watched this with amused eyes, Pete was actually right for once. Hade sat back in his chair and thought for a moment.

"Dead… dead is good! And I know just the warrior." with that, he stood from his thrown and approached where the table was, making it disappear as a portal appeared in its place. Kyrie stared at the swirling green vortex with wide eyes.

"_What is he planning?" _she thought as she watched. Pete stared at the portal in confusion, his hand to his chin.

"By the by, uh… what's down there?" he asked as Hades approached him from behind.

"Just the Underworld's deepest dungeon. This time I'm bringing out the mother of all bad guys." Pete looked up at Hades and flinched, starting to back away as he did so.

"You don't say?" he stammered. With that he, Pain, and Panic stood against the wall, right next to Kyrie as they trembled.

"Well…maybe I should go." with that, he tried to grab Kyrie, but was met with the same light and sparks that Maleficent had got, making him yelp and suck on his fingers. Hades, completely ignoring him, summoned fire into his hands and threw it into the portal, making something appear in a puff of smoke. The smoke began to turn red, and Kyrie saw a silhouette inside the smoke.

"_He's the mother of all bad guys?" _Kyrie thought as the smoke disappeared, a man dressed in red appearing in its place. Hades began to laugh evilly as he stared at the unnamed man in front of him.

"Let's cut to the chase." he spoke, crossing his arms.

"Here's the deal I'm gonna offer you. I let you out of the slammer- no strings- you'll be free as a bird." he started. The man ignored him for a moment and glanced at where Pete, Kyrie, and the two henchmen were. Pete smiled fearfully and raised a tentative hand, and Kyrie stared at him blearily, the darkness taking its toll on her. For a moment, the man gave her a sympathetic look, making her blink at him in confusion.

"And all for one little job. Fight Hercules, in the coliseum…to the death!" he finished. The man's lip twitched before he spoke.

"This is my story. And you're not part of it." he spoke as he got into a fighting stance, slinging his large blade over his shoulder with one arm while the other was kept in a sling. Hades started at him in both shock and anger.

"Did you forget who you're talking to? I am the lord of death!" the man smirked at this.

"No wonder no one wants to die." Kyrie began to silently giggle at this, despite his rugged appearance, this man had a good sense of humor. Hades growled at him.

"You are FIRED!" he shouted as his body flared up with fire and he turned from blue to red in an instant, going after the man. Suddenly, Kyrie heard a familiar voice that made her heart flutter.

"Hades!" she turned and smiled.

"_Sora, Donald, Goofy!"_

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><p><strong>Okay, that's the end of this chapter. Now I know you all must have millions and millions of questions for what's going on so far, but please be patient. All will be revealed in due time. But for the moment, I've got college stuff to work on so the next chapter will be awhile, unfortunately.<strong>

**Please read and review, or else I'll have Hades roast you. **


	17. Auron

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

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><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 17

"_Sora, Donald, Goofy!" _Kyrie thought with relief as she spotted her friends at the entrance to Hades' chamber. Hades looked up from his fight and his red skin turned blue again.

"You again?" he asked, apparently surprised at their appearance. The man swept Hades back with his sword, just as Kyrie struggled to her feet.

"Fight!" he ordered. With that, he rushed forward and with a few strokes and strikes, was thrown back. Hades was about to use two fireballs against the man, but hesitated when Sora jumped in.

"Get up!" he urged as he looked at the older man. With that he, Donald, and Goofy rushed in, holding Hades off as the man tried getting to his feet. Kyrie grunted, using the wall behind her as support as she watched the three take on the god of the Underworld.

"_Sora…you have to run…" _she thought weakly. But after a moment, she realized that their movements were off, as if something was weighing them down.

"Something's wrong!" Donald cried, alarmed. Sora nodded and Kyrie could clearly see a red aura surround him for a moment, but it was weak.

"I feel kinda funny…" Sora spoke, his voice shaky. Hades smirked at them, as if he knew something he didn't. Kyrie took a few shaky steps, so that she was behind him, and crouched, preparing herself.

"That's right! See, that's the thing. In the Underworld, heroes are zeroes…comes with the territory." He mocked. But he was suddenly cut off when a foot connected with the back of his head, throwing him forward. He landed on the ground, face first, as a familiar figure landed next to him. Sora smiled in relief.

"Kyrie, you're okay!" she gave him a small smile before grimacing, falling forward. This made Sora gasp as he dove in to catch her.

"Kyrie, what's wrong?" he gasped, holding her gingerly. All she could do was pant in exhaustion and shake her head weakly. Goofy and Donald joined him, both concerned.

"Gawrsh, are you okay?" Goofy asked. Hades glared at them.

"How dare you-!" Suddenly, he began to form fireballs in his hands, aiming them at the group. Her eyes widened.

"_Sora, look out-" _she thought as she pointed. The three looked up just as Hades was about to throw them, but the man in red rushed between them, forcing him to disappear to avoid the blade aimed at him.

"Go now!" the man ordered. But Sora shook his head in protest as he got to his feet, helping Kyrie up before Goofy took over.

"But I've gotta talk to Hades!" he explained. Then he growled when Hades plugged his ears with his fingers.

"What was that?" he asked mockingly. Kyrie glared at him as Goofy supported her, her arm slung over his shoulders.

"_Bastard…" _she thought as she slumped against Goofy, if only she could repeat his face plant… but the man had grabbed Sora's arm and pulled him back.

"We can't fight him here! We have to go… now!" he ordered. Sora nodded reluctantly as Goofy, Donald, and the man turned to leave. Kyrie could only look behind her as Goofy supported her, watching as Sora ran, just barely avoiding the fireballs thrown at him. Once they got outside, Sora and Goofy pushed the doors shut, making Donald turn and watch as they slouched against the doors, panting heavily.

"Is he gone?" Donald asked frantically. The man shook his head.

"Don't count on it." he answered. Sora looked at him in confusion.

"Huh?" he asked. At that moment, Kyrie's eyes widened when she spotted a familiar figure standing next to him, and pointed. Turning, Sora came face-to-face with Hades.

"Leaving so soon?" the god asked in amusement. Kyrie scowled at him as he summoned heartless, from Soldiers and Large Bodies to Hook Bats and Lance Soldiers. Goofy kept a tight hold on Kyrie, looking at her as Sora and the unknown man rushed forward and began taking them out.

"Can ya stand?" he asked. Kyrie gave a small nod, and released his hold on her. Kyrie stood back as they fought, watching their backs as she summoned her keyblades. She watched as they fought, and jumped in whenever a Lance Soldier or a Hook Bat would get behind them, ready to strike them from behind.

With that they began to run, taking out heartless as they did so, heading towards the exit. But once they got there, Hades blocked their path.

"You really think I'm going to let you out of here so easily? This is my territory." he chuckled. They glared at him before he summoned more heartless, making the situation even more dire. As they fought, they had to avoid the fireballs that Hades chucked at them, as well as the attacks the heartless would use. Kyrie grunted as a Lance Soldier threw her back, almost sending her over the edge.

"_Ugh!" _she thought as she pulled herself up, before her eyes widened. Hades was behind Sora and the man as they fought a few Lance Soldiers, fireballs in his hands as he aimed at them. She gasped, rushing in just as he threw the fireballs.

Within seconds, a flash of light and smoke erupted, pushing Sora and the man back as they turned, surprised. Hades frowned when he saw that both of them were unharmed, but was surprised when the smoke cleared. In front of them stood Kyrie, a while shield around her as she held both keyblades, battle-ready but having a hard time remaining upright. He smirked.

"Impressive, snowflake. Maybe I should've just used you instead of him." he complimented, his hand on his chin. She simply glared at him, too weak to really care about his remarks. She was breathing heavily as a light sheen of sweat covered her face, her knees quaky as she tried to remain standing and her breaths coming out in short gasps.

"Kyrie!" turning, she spotted Sora, the man, Donald, and Goofy as they stared at her in concern. Shaking her head, she pointed to the exit.

"_Get out of here!" _she thought as she pointed. The man nodded, seeming to understand what she meant before shoving Sora towards the exit.

"Go, now!" he ordered. Sora nodded reluctantly as he, Donald, and Goofy ran. The man turned back to her and was at her side in seconds, using his arm to support her as they ran. Kyrie heard one more explosion from behind them as they escaped, running into a familiar inner chamber as Sora, Donald, and Goofy collapsed to the ground, panting heavily. The man helped her lean against the wall before turning his attention to the three boys in front of him.

"You're really good. Are you some kind of hero?" Sora panted, looking at the man. Kyrie watched the man's expression falter for a moment, a flash of grief pass over his features before he returned to his normal, uncaring expression.

"No, I'm no hero…I'm just an…" he trailed off, making Sora and the others look at him in confusion.

"Auron." he spoke suddenly, making Kyrie raise her eyebrow at him, before she smiled weakly.

"_That must be his name." _she thought. But Sora was staring at him blankly, as if he didn't know what Auron just said. The man simple rolled his eye as he stared at him.

"My name." he added. The boy nodded as he got to his feet.

"I'm Sora." he spoke, pointing to himself. Donald joined him as he jumped on the boy's shoulders, making Sora grunt as he tried to support Donald's weight.

"Donald." he exclaimed, smiling at the man in front of them. Goofy was the last to join them as he jumped on top of Donald, making both him and Sora yelp as they tried to hold him up.

"Goofy!" he smiled, giving a wave. Within seconds, the three fell to the floor in a heap at the man stared at them, eyebrow raised. Kyrie giggled silently as she rolled her eyes, they would never change. The man looked at her and she gave a small wave.

"It seems we were fated to meet. Maybe you need a guardian." He spoke, looking at Sora, Donald, and Goofy. Sora looked at the man in disbelief before pushing himself up, making Donald and Goofy roll of him and thus untangling them from him.

"Guardian? Thanks, but no thanks." He spoke, scowling at the man as he got to his feet and started walking. Auron gave a small chuckle and Kyrie covered her mouth with her hand.

"_Sora's too proud to admit that he needs help." _she thought. Suddenly, a wave of dizziness washed over her and she fell forward, landing with a heavy thump on the cold, stone floor beneath her. Sora turned at the sound, eyes widening when he spotted the white-haired girl on the floor.

"Kyrie!" he cried, rushing over as he knelt beside her, pulling her into his lap as Donald and Goofy joined him.

"What's wrong?" Donald asked as he and Goofy stood over them, looking at the girl worriedly as she breathed heavily, a light sheen of sweat clinging to her brow. Goofy knelt down and placed a palm against her head, his eyes widening before he pulled it back.

"Gawrsh, she's burnin' up!" he exclaimed. Auron joined them as he looked the girl over, his eyes narrowing.

"It's the darkness. It's eating away at her strength." he explained. Sora looked up and nodded.

"Let's get her back to the coliseum, there's no darkness there." he spoke, helping the girl to her feet as Goofy knelt in front of her, allowing her to lay on his back as he carried her. The man nodded.

"Let's go." and with that, they continued on, trying to get out of the Underworld as quickly as possible.

Once they got to the Cave of the Dead, however, they realized that the entry was locked.

"What? It's closed!" Donald exclaimed, placing his palms on the large doors. With that, Goofy placed Kyrie down as he, Donald, and Sora tried to push the doors open. Auron stayed with her as the two watched the boys huff and grunt as they tried to open the doors. Kyrie looked up and her eyes narrowed, she spotted a lock surrounded by chains.

"_We need the keyblade…" _summoning her keyblade, she chucked it at Sora, hoping he would catch it and use it, but the boy didn't turn around in time so the blade knocked him off his feet.

"Ow! What was that for?" he cried, glaring at her. She pointed and the three looked up, spotting the lock. Summoning his keyblade, Sora aimed at the lock. Auron, now interested at what was going on, approached them.

"Will that open it?" he asked. Sora nodded.

"Yeah. I think so." He answered. But before he could use it, a loud roar and heavy footfalls startled them, making Auron turn in the direction they were coming from. Kyrie, being on the floor, could feel the vibrations of the footfalls and knew something big was coming.

"Hurry!" he ordered. Sora nodded as a beam of light shot out of the keyblade, unlocking the lock before a large, black dog with three heads jumped out and went after Auron. Donald and Goofy ran and started pushing the door open, opening it enough for them to get out. But before Sora could follow them, he turned and watched as Auron fought the large dog.

"Uh…" Kyrie stared at the boy and knew what was coming next. He was going to play the hero and help out his new comrade, disregarding his own safety in the process.

"_If he thinks he's gonna run in and get himself killed trying to help Auron, he better think again." _she thought as she pushed herself to her feet, summoning both keyblades as she did so. Sora was already running in to help Auron, despite the protests from Donald and Goofy.

"Sora, Kyrie, wait!" but it was no use. The two joined Auron and met the large, three-headed dog in combat as it jumped, creating shockwaves that the three had to jump in order to avoid. Kyrie aimed all of her blows to its forelegs and back legs while Sora and Auron aimed for the heads and torso. Once they got the dog to the floor, Donald called out to them.

"Come on!" Donald cried. They nodded as they made a mad dash for the doors as Donald and Goofy began to close them. Once it began closing, the three boys began to make goofy faces and mocked the large dog, causing to roar and run towards the door before it shut tightly in its faces. As the boys were celebrating, Auron turned to her.

"C'mon, I'll get you to the steps of the coliseum. You'll feel better there." he spoke, holding his arm out to her. Nodding, she took it and he quickly took her across the large, court-yard like room before helping her to the steps that led to the coliseum. With that, he turned.

"We'll meet again." and he walked away. Kyrie nodded and could already feel her strength coming back, the rays of light touching her skin and hair. She watched as the boys finally realized her and Auron's absence and looked around.

"What happened to Kyrie and Auron?" Goofy asked. Sora gave him a small grin before holding his arms behind his head.

"He can take care of himself. Let's go find Meg. Then we can try this again. But first…" he held his hands near his mouth, trying to make his voice louder as he called out.

"Kyrie, where are you? We're almost at the coliseum!" he turned and blinked, she was already at the steps that led to the coliseum, smiling brightly and looking better than she had been before. Running over, the three stopped as she got herself to her feet. And with that, the three continued up the steps, Kyrie's strength growing the higher they got.

"_I feel alive and full of energy again…" _she thought with a sigh of relief as they walked. She had so much to ask the boys, but her questions could wait until later, when they were safe and out of danger. As soon as they got to the top of the stairs, a pair of large doors opened revealing a large building with two statues of warriors pointing their swords towards the sky. A very muscular-but also very tired-looking man sat on the steps of the building who immediately looked up and smiled as he spotted the boys.

"Sora! Donald! Goofy! When'd you get here?"

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><p><strong>Yep. Now we get to meet Mr. Wonderboy himself, Hercules! Yaaaay...*sarcastic* ...Nevermind. I'll shut up now.<strong>

**Read and Review!**


	18. Seriously? Another kidnapping?

**Me: ...*headdesk***

**Axel: What's eating her?**

**Demyx: She was mumbling something about pirates and writer's blocks. I couldn't make heads or tails of it.**

**Me:...CURSE YOU, YOU DAMN PIRATES!**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 18

"Sora! Donald! Goofy! When'd you get here?" the man spoke as he got to his feet. He began to walk over but stopped when he spotted a white-haired girl beside them, and raised his eyebrows.

"Hey, who's this? Your girlfriend, Sora?" he asked, pointing to her. Sora blushed brightly and Kyrie simply giggled silently. They were by no means a couple. More like…a brother and sister if anything. At least in her point of view, Sora reminded her of an adorable little brother.

"Wha- no! This is Kyrie, she's traveling with us." he explained, trying to hide his blush. Donald and Goofy chuckled before Goofy spoke.

"Yup. An' his girlfriend is waitin' for him to come home anyways." he added. Sora turned to him in disbelief and Kyrie raised her eyebrows.

"_Sora has a girlfriend? She must be a very lucky girl…" _she thought as Sora glared at Goofy. The man laughed at Sora's expression before turning to the girl.

"My name is Hercules, nice to meet you." he spoke, holding his hand out. She nodded and smiled as she clasped his hand and gave it a shake, the man was very strong, no surprise there. His eyebrow rose again at her strange silence.

"You're very quiet. Not much of a talker are ya?" he asked. She blushed a little before Donald jumped in.

"Kyrie's mute, so she can't talk. She's got a notebook that she writes in so she can communicate with us." he explained. Hercules nodded in understanding before turning to Sora.

"You on another adventure?" he asked. Sora nodded at his question.

"Yeah, trackin' down some friends, wipin' out some Heartless." He answered. The two grinned at each other before the two clasped hands and gave a rough shake, making Kyrie silently laugh at the two.

"_Is this some sort of 'manly' handshake?" _she thought as she covered her mouth, trying to hide her smile.

"Junior heroes, always busy!" Hercules laughed as they shook hands. Sora nodded as Donald scowled and Goofy smiled.

"You know it!" Sora smiled. With that, they began walking towards the building, talking as they did so.

"So, did you find those friends of yours?" Hercules asked. Sora looked embarrassed as he looked away, and Kyrie raised her eyebrows. Were they talking about the King and Riku?

"Still working on it. When we got here, we ran into Meg…meg…mega trouble, I mean!" he stammered. Kyrie narrowed her eyes and placed her hands on her hips, she knew Sora had just lied about something. What that was though, she didn't know. Then they began to explain what happened while they were in the Underworld, even adding what effects it had on both them and Kyrie.

"So we had to help somebody out. We tried to go teach Hades a thing or two…but the Underworld drains away all our strength. Don't suppose you have any ideas?" he asked. Hercules was silent for a moment as he crossed his arms, before an idea came to him.

"Well, there is a stone that guards against the Underworld's curse. The gods on Mount Olympus use it whenever they have to go down there." He answered. Kyrie gave a small smile, maybe this stone could help keep the darkness at bay and keep her strength up. Sora smiled at this.

"Think we could use it?" he asked. Hercules uncrossed his arms with a smile and nodded gladly.

"Sure, why not! I'll go get it for you." He answered. The four looked at each other and smiled.

"Thanks!"

"Sure nice of ya!"

"_This is great! I can't wait to see the look on Hades' face when I kick his butt. Call me a 'snowflake' will he?" _she thought happily as she hugged Donald, making the duck protest as she did so.

"But Hades is no pushover, even if you've got the Olympus Stone. And I have a match today, so I can't go with you…Know what you need? Training! Why don't you go talk to Phil?" Hercules spoke, bursting their happy bubble in a moment. Kyrie slumped her shoulders and released Donald, who was glad to be free of her hug.

"_Training? I don't need training." _she thought with finality. But the group nodded and walked through another doorway, finding themselves in the arena. Kyrie looked around before spotting the oddest creature she had ever seen standing by a floating pot. It had horns and legs like that of a goat, but the body of a chubby man.

"_What is that? Don't tell me this is Phil." _she thought as she stared at it. Sora gave the creature a wave, but it wasn't looking at him. Before he could speak, the creature cut him off.

"Hey champ, how ya feeling?" it asked as it looked at the pot. Kyrie moved closer to Goofy as the group looked at the creature.

"Better rest up for tomorrow's match. Nobody's gonna pay to see a worn-out hero…capiche? Remember what I told you." They raised their eyebrows at each other, obviously the creature thought he was talking to Hercules.

"Victory in the games comes down to two simple words: Eat, bathe, sleep!" Goofy counted his fingers and smiled, making the group laugh at the creature's bad math. It turned to scold them, before grinning when he spotted Sora, Donald and Goofy. Sora crouched down and the man/creature came over and slapped his hands as he gave him a manly hug. Kyrie smiled at this as Donald and Goofy laughed.

"Hey, if it ain't the junior heroes!" the man, who now she knew was Phil even without the introduction, spoke as he looked the three over. Sora's smile grew as he looked Phil over.

"Lookin' good, Phil." He complimented. The man smiled at him as he placed his hands on his hips.

"Never better! How you guys been? Have you earned your 'true hero' wings yet?" he asked. Sora, Donald, and Goofy looked at each other before Phil began looking them over.

"Nope, you ain't got what it takes." He spoke finally, making the three droop sadly, before the satyr noticed the white-haired girl standing beside them.

"Hey, who's the girl? She your girlfriend, Sora?" he asked. Kyrie simply smiled as she shook her head, and Sora groaned. She quickly pulled out her notebook and began to write as Sora began to rant.

"Why does everyone think that?" he groaned. Before anyone could reply, Kyrie handed her notebook to Phil.

**My name is Kyrie, and I'm traveling with them for awhile. And no, I'm not his girlfriend. Apparently, his girlfriend is waiting for him back home.**

Phil nodded as he read her words.

"Okay, so why the notebook? Couldn't you just-" before he could finish his sentence, the notebook was back in his face, with more writing on it.

**I'm mute, so this is the only way I can communicate. **

"…alright, fine. I won't ask." then he turned to the boys.

"So, what's up?"

-A whole explanation Later-

After explaining the situation and having Phil practically laugh at them, they began training by breaking pots. While watching Sora fight, Kyrie turned to Donald and Goofy and wrote in her notebook, before tugging on Goofy's sleeve.

**Goofy, what happened after I fell off the Gummi ship?**

"Well…we landed in the Underworld and began lookin' for you, when we ran into a lady named "Meg". She told us she hadn't seen you, but said she was havin' problems with Hades, so we thought we'd go an' teach him a lesson." he explained. She nodded as he continued.

"While we were headin' to Hades' hideout, we saw an organization member, but he just ran from us and disappeared. When we got to Hades' chamber, well there you were. So uh…how'd you get there?" he finished. She quickly wrote in her notebook and handed it to him.

**I don't know. I just woke up there, to him calling me "snowflake". Then he summoned Auron and you guys showed up.**

She left out about the part of seeing Demyx again and Maleficent's revelation, because neither event was any of their business. The two nodded as Phil came over, Sora in tow.

"Alright kid, you're up. Let's see if you got what it takes or not." Phil ordered, looking at Kyrie. She nodded silently and stood, summoning both keyblades as she walked out into the arena. Once she was there, about twenty-five or so pots appeared.

"You just need to destroy all twenty-five of those pots and you're good! Remember, be fast and don't stop until every one of those pots is-" but before he could finish, she was off, knocking pots into each other and throwing them into the air, breaking them instantly. As she moved, she felt sheer delight course through her body at her returned strength, and eagerly kept breaking pot after pot.

Once she was done, she landed on her feet gracefully as the fragments of the pots surrounded her. She heard a whistle from behind and turned, to see Phil as he, Sora, Donald, and Goofy stared at her.

"Jeez, you took those out faster than Sora did! Ever thought of becoming a heroine?" he spoke. Sora stared at him in disbelief, but Kyrie simply shook her head. She did enough rescues and all that on a daily basis, she didn't need it to become a full-time job. The satyr sighed and scrunched his forehead and called Sora, Donald, and Goofy up to break more pots.

But Kyrie simple walked over to the stands, before catching sight of a brown-haired woman wearing pink robes staring at her. She smiled at the woman and walked over, but the woman simply stared at her, as if she didn't care about what was going on. Once Kyrie got to her, she smiled and held her hand out, but the woman simply stared at it and placed her hands on her hips.

"My name's Megara, but my friend's call me Meg. So…you're the girl Sora was looking for?" she spoke, slightly startling her but at the same time, slightly irritating her.

"_She could've at least returned my handshake." _she thought as she pulled her hand away and nodded.

"I see. Well, now that the introductions are done, I'll be going." and with that, she walked away. Kyrie stood there silently for a few moment, not understanding what exactly had just happened. Shaking her head, she just simply took her place and sat down, waiting to be called up for more training.

-Later-

"Listen, I gotta take off for a bit." Phil started as Sora finished breaking the last of his pots. The boy lowered his keyblade and looked at him curiously.

"Where to?" he asked. Kyrie looked up from where she was sitting and walked over, curious on what was going on.

"None of your beeswax." Phil answered, and with that, he took off. The four watched him go before they spotted Hercules approaching, a dejected look on his face as he walked over. Something was wrong.

"Sorry, guys…The Olympus Stone has been stolen." He spoke as they approached. This made the group stop in their tracks and look up at the muscular man in shock.

"What?" Sora and Donald exclaimed. Kyrie placed her hand against her chin, lost in thought. She had a few suspicions on who could have done it, Hades being one of them.

"By who?" Goofy asked. At this Hercules simply shrugged his shoulders.

"We don't know who did it yet. All we're sure of is that it was a guy in a black-hooded cloak. And he had accomplices… a bunch of creatures in white." At this, Kyrie inwardly groaned. She definitely knew who the person was that stole it.

"_Nice job, Demyx. This is actually the first successful steal you've had in awhile…no wait! I'm not supposed to be complimenting him! Dammit Demyx, why did you have to steal the Olympus stone…" _she thought, sighing.

"Someone you know?" she snapped back into reality at Hercules' question, and watched as Sora nodded.

"I think so." He answered. After a moment of deliberation, he spoke again. "Hey, if we can get the Olympus Stone back, can we borrow it for a while?"

At this, Hercules nodded. "Sure. By the way, you haven't seen Meg around, have you?" he asked. The trio shook their heads, and Kyrie simply shrugged. She had seen the woman earlier, but not since then. He sighed.

"Oh, okay…" he mumbled. At that moment, Hades appeared and placed a hand on his shoulder, making Kyrie stiffen and summon both keyblades as she prepared for a fight.

"What's wrong, your hero-ness? Feeling under the weather? Oh, and watch it, snowflake. You could hurt someone with those." Hades mocked. Kyrie narrowed her eyes as Hercules jerked away.

"_Yeah, someone like you." _she thought as the group glared at him.

"You know, I thought staying in perfect shape was part of the hero job description…you know what I'm saying?" he spoke as he continued. Sora immediately stepped defiantly up to him, willing to help out the hero when the situation arose. But he stopped, as if remembering something.

"Oh, right…Hades, we gotta talk!" he spoke. At this, Hades raised a hand and flicked Sora in the forehead, making the boy fall back. Kyrie was at his side in seconds, helping him to his feet as she glared at Hades.

"I came to share a bit of mildly-interesting news." Hades spoke, like Sora had never even interrupted him. The others got into position, but Kyrie sensed that something was amiss. Why would he come all of this way to share gossip? It didn't make sense.

"Seems your dear, sweet little Nutmeg…" before he could continued, he disappeared in a puff of smoke just as Hercules went to strike him. But he only reappeared behind the man, smirking in enjoyment and glee.

"…went and got herself lost in the Underworld." He finished. Hercules growled as he glared at him.

"You mean you kidnapped her!" he accused. Hades simply shrugged his shoulders but his smirk seemed to grow, he was enjoying this. Tormenting others.

"Well, maybe…But why get caught up in the details?" he pointed out. Hercules whistled and a white flying horse flew over the walls of the coliseum and landed at his side. Just as he was about to get on, Hades stopped him.

"Uh-uh-uh! You can't leave now, okay?" at this, he stopped. "You've got a very important match today, against, um…the bloodthirsty Hydra! I mean, if you don't stick around, who knows what kind of 'accident' might happen." Sora glared at the god.

"Yeah, accidents you cause." Sora accused him. But he just simply shrugged his words off. "Like I said: details who needs 'em?"

"_How about you since you're about to get your ass kicked." _Kyrie thought with distaste. Suddenly a mischievous idea came to mind, and she bent down and scooped up a bunch of sand, spitting a little on it so it could be shaped into a ball. No one seemed to take notice of this, and she continued making her ball. Before anyone could speak, a ball of sand whizzed by their heads and smacked Hades in the face, putting out his flaming hair.

"_Bulls-eye." _she thought with a smirk as Hades coughed. He glared at her, and she stuck out her tongue at him in response while the others stifled their laughter.

"Why you little-" but he stopped himself, calming down and rekindling his hair. Hercules glared at him.

"You're just a coward." And with that, the god disappeared in a puff of smoke. "Ah well. Can't all be heroes." Kyrie glared at the spot where he stood, feeling anger grow inside her.

"_That lowly little-" _she stopped when she realized Sora, Donald, and Goofy were leaving, and ran to join them. But Sora stopped immediately.

"Kyrie, you can't come with us. You get really weak in the Underworld, we can't let you come." he ordered. She stopped and glared at him, before pulling out her notebook.

**Sora, that's not fair! For one, I'm older than you, so you can't tell me what to do. And second, it's my problem, not yours!**

"It is our problem! You're our friend, if you got hurt- …we'd never forgive ourselves." he exclaimed. The two glared at each other before she sighed.

**Look, how about I wait at the entrance of the Underworld? I won't be in trouble there, and I can wait until you bring Meg back.**

The three looked at each other before Donald sighed.

"Okay. But no moving from that spot, got it?"

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><p><strong>This was a boring chapter. Again, I'm not going to lie so I'm just going to admit the sad, sad truth.<strong>

**Unfortunately, I might be going on a HIATUS because I'm in such a writer's block, that I can't write anything! If anyone is willing to help or give advice, please, please, PLEASE help. (oh, and it has nothing to do with Olympus Coliseum. I've written way past that, and the block I currently have on it is on one of the more popular worlds of KH II.)**

**Anyways, before I depress you guys any more...please Read and Review!**


	19. Fighting the Hydra

**Well, heres's chapter 19. I skipped some parts, but don't worry. A certain water mage will appear again soon, just be patient! ...As well as a certain pyro...**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

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><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 19

All was silent as Kyrie sat on the steps that led to the Olympus coliseum. After ordering her to stay there, Sora, Donald, and Goofy continued on in search of Meg. In truth, Kyrie felt left out. She wanted to help both Meg and Hercules the best that she can, but apparently, her weakness to the darkness left her as dead weight. A nuisance. Even Hercules told her to stay behind when he finished his match and pursued them. She gave a soft, sad sigh.

"_It's not fair…why does the darkness affect me so badly?" _she thought as she sat there, her chin resting on her hands as she did so. Even now, some of her energy was being zapped away, but it wasn't as bad as before.

"_Maybe the deeper I go in, the more I am affected by the darkness." _she contemplated. But it didn't make her feel any better, instead, it made her feel a lot worse. As she sat, alone in the Underworld, her thoughts drifted. But suddenly, a voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Kyrie!" looking up, she smiled as she spotted Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Hercules running towards her. She got to her feet and as soon as they neared.

"_You guys! You're safe!" _she thought and rushed forward, happy and relieved that they were safe and unharmed. But just as she reached them, the ground beneath her feet began to rumble and a roar rang out, startling the group.

"What was that?" Sora cried as he tried steadying himself. Within seconds Hercules was heading towards the coliseum, and Kyrie knew something was going on up there. Grabbing Sora's arm, she proceeded to pursue the true hero, dragging the boy along as she did so. Rushing up the stairs and running into the light, what they saw surprised and shocked them.

In the center of a destroyed coliseum was a large, purple, serpent-like creature. It had bright orange eyes, and very large teeth, as it roared and raised mayhem on the remains of the building. Hercules fell to his knees and buried his face into his hands.

"This can't be…" he moaned in disbelief. Kyrie ran forward to help him, but immediately ducked as a stone flew past her and almost landed on Sora. Kyrie shot him an apologetic look for a moment before standing in front of Hercules, summoning her keyblades as she did so. The creature roared once more and she glared at it, before spotting Phil and Meg from the corner of her eye as they ran to the kneeling man. Meg crouched next to him while Phil shook his opposite arm, the white horse landing nearby. She gave the man a sympathetic but hard look.

"_Hercules, get up! We need you!" _she thought as she turned her attention back to the serpent. The creature was ten times bigger than any of them, and the fact it was causing so much destruction did not help matters.

"Champ! You're safe!" Phil cried in relief, slumping a little as he did so. But the man paid no mind to this, as his gaze lingered on the destroyed remains of the coliseum.

"I failed…" he whispered. Meg placed a hand on his shoulder as she tried to console him.

"It's not your fault!" Meg protested and for once, Kyrie agreed with her. Sure, sometimes the woman could be a little mean, but she really was a nice person. Especially since she was trying all she can to help Hercules. But the man simply shook his head.

"I left everyone unprotected." Hercules spoke, before slumping further to the ground and slamming his fist into it. "Hades was right. I'm just a…a washout." He growled, punching the ground again. Kyrie shot him a distressed look, now was not the time to feel sorry or guilty. It was time to fight.

"_C'mon, Hercules…don't give up! A true hero never gives up, they fight until the very end!" _she thought. Donald looked at the man before looking at Sora.

"Herc needs help!" he exclaimed. Sora nodded in agreement, as did Goofy and Kyrie.

"Yeah." he agreed. Within seconds Phil was at their side, in an offensive position.

"Don't suppose you got room for one more?" he asked, doing a few punches and kicks. Kyrie gave a small smile as the white horse and Meg joined them, ready to fight.

"We're in!" and with that, the battle commenced. While Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Kyrie held off the creature, Meg, Phil, and the white horse pulled Hercules safely out of harms way as they watched the fight from a distance. The serpent unleashed a volley of lightning attacks, most of which the group dodged, except for poor Goofy who kept getting shocked due to his clumsiness. Sora and Kyrie both attacked the monster head on, Sora attacking the head, Kyrie the body.

With one uppercut with the keyblade from Sora, its head came clean off, and its body fell to the ground. Kyrie smiled as she fist-pumped, keyblades still in hand.

"_Yes, we did it!" _she thought. But unfortunately, this wasn't the case. The ground began to rumble, and within seconds, three heads shot out from the soil, roaring at them with rage. Her eyes widened and she sighed in exasperation.

"_Why the hell is this thing still alive? Sora chopped its head clean off!" _she thought as she ran in, focusing on the center head as Sora, Donald, and Goofy attacked the other two heads. But even when they severed the three heads, the torso raised from the ground, a half-dozen heads adorning it this time. Kyrie growled silently as she watched a large, dark orb form in front of its body. Without a moment to lose, she was at the trio's side as they regrouped and closed her eyes, focusing.

"_Light!" _she thought as she pictured a familiar shield in her head. She saw a flash of light and opened her eyes, not surprised to see that her bubble-like shield was back, holding off the dark orbs as they attacked the shield. Sora, Donald, and Goofy looked at her gratefully.

"Thanks!" they cried in unison, but she simply shook her head. As soon as the dark orbs vanished, she lowered her shield, and spotted the white horse as it flew towards Sora. She ran over and grabbed his hand as the horse swept him off his feet and into the sky, with her dangling by his hand. He gasped.

"Kyrie, what are you-" but before he could finish, she released her hold and fell into the sea of heads. Using one keyblade, she jammed it into a mouth that shot up to devour her and used the other to slice the head clean off, retrieving her other keyblade as she slid down the remains of the neck. She could hear Sora cry out for her, but all she could focus on was slicing off the heads as she came down towards the torso, occasionally sliding down a neck as she continued chopping off heads and avoiding large, sharp teeth that would gladly have her for a snack. She could hear Sora slicing off heads as well over the many roars of the individual heads of the monster, but she simply kept going. They couldn't stop, couldn't hesitate.

"_C'mon, almost there…" _she thought as she ducked to avoid two heads as they collided with each other. And before long, only one head remained, as Kyrie and Sora jumped in, working together as they severed the last head and sent it flying, the torso falling to the ground in a heap while the head landed not far away, still twitching slightly. Kyrie smiled and sighed in relief, it was over.

"_Finally…I thought this would never end…" _she thought as she slumped a little, exhausted. She spotted Donald as he healed Sora, who seemed to have received the most damage from the battle, which wasn't really surprising. Then she spotted Hercules as he sat on some rubble, with Meg standing next to him and Phil on his other side. The man looked absolutely ashamed of himself, and she felt sorry for him. Walking over, she stood with Sora, Donald, and Goofy as they looked at the man.

"I let you down. I'm just…no use." Hercules mumbled sadly, looking sorry for himself. Meg quickly shook her head as she placed a hand over his.

"It's not your fault. Hey, even a god would be exhausted." She explained. The group nodded in agreement, none of this was the hero's fault. It was all just a big accident that couldn't have been prevented.

"She's right. Give yourself a chance to rest." Sora spoke, making Kyrie nod in agreement. Goofy nodded as he looked at the remains of the coliseum.

"There won't be any games for a while anyway." He added, but Kyrie quickly elbowed him in the side.

"Goofy, that doesn't help things!" she thought as she glared at him from the corner of her eye. Meg gave the man a quick, sad look before turning her attention on the four people in front of her.

"Don't worry about Wonderboy here. I'll look after him. Sora, Donald, Goofy, Kyrie, I owe you big time." Meg spoke, giving them one of her small, rare smiles. Kyrie smiled in return, and gave a small bow.

"Hey, it's no big deal. Just let us know if Hades or the Heartless start acting up. We'll take care of it." Sora added. Donald nodded eagerly and he placed a hand against his chest.

"Yeah, that's what heroes are for!" he exclaimed. Meg looked amused as she placed a hand against her chin, staring at the duck who was dead-set about being a true hero, even if he wasn't.

"When did you three make hero?" she asked. Then she looked at Kyrie with a bemused expression.

"Or should I say four?" she teased. Kyrie giggled silently before the woman shook her head. "You don't look too interested on the whole institution, so I'll say three for now." she added. At this Kyrie nodded, she really wasn't into the whole hero thing. Titles and rank didn't matter to her. What mattered was the heart or soul inside the person, that's all she cared about. Sora laughed a little before looking at Meg.

"Let's save that for another time…we have to hit the road." He explained. The woman nodded as she crossed her arms, though not in a standoffish way.

"Okay. Don't be strangers." She spoke. Goofy walked over to Hercules and gave him a smile.

"Gawrsh, I hope you feel better soon, Hercules." he spoke sincerely. The hero gave him a small nod.

"Yeah…" he sighed. Donald looked over at Phil and raised an eyebrow.

"Phil?" he asked, snapping Phil out of his daze.

"Oh, well, take care you guys! Stay a little longer next time. We got some serious training to catch up on." He explained, wagging a finger at Sora. The boy smiled as he looked at the rest of the group.

"Well, time to go." just as he started walking away, he stopped, as if remembering something, and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a small stone, before turning back to Hercules.

"Oh, I almost forgot. The Olympus Stone." He spoke as he held it out toward the man. Hercules stumbled to his feet and reached out, only to have a strange light wrap around the stone. Kyrie felt her heart accelerate, and this time, instead of just her heart reacting, she began to glow as well. The others stared at both her and the stone in confusion, before a light shot out of the stone and a keyhole appeared. Within seconds, the key was unlocked, and the light faded from her body. She stared at her hands in amazement.

"_Just what…was that?" _she thought as she stared at her hands. In seconds, she shook it off and joined Sora, Donald, and Goofy as they bade farewell and left the coliseum.

-The Gummi Ship-

Everyone sighed and relaxed as they boarded the Gummi ship. Within seconds however, Goofy was back on his feet as he started heading towards the kitchen.

"Better start on supper. It's gettin' late." he spoke aloud as he grabbed a apron and proceeded into the kitchen. The others looked at each other and laughed, one of the three being silent as they did so.

"_Ah Goofy…he really does look out for the rest of us." _Kyrie thought as she joined them. But then she stopped and looked over at the two, curiosity burning in her eyes. Ever since they got back from the Underworld, something was nagging at her.

Just what exactly went on down there when they went to rescue Meg?

She quickly grabbed her notebook and started writing, before she tugged on Sora's sleeve, making the young keyblade bearer turn to her.

"Huh? What's up?" he asked. She quickly deposited the notebook into his lap, making him look down as he began to read it.

**What happened in the Underworld when you went to rescue Meg?**

"Oh, well, lots of stuff." but when she glared at him, he chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his head. "Be more specific?" he asked her. With a simple nod, he sighed and continued.

"Well, after we saw Phil at the entrance, we ran in and when we made it to this Altar, a guy from Organization XIII was there. He turned to us and looked surprise, before calling me "Roxas"." he explained. Donald nodded as he joined in.

"We didn't know why he was calling Sora "Roxas" but then he held up the Olympus Stone and used it to restore his strength. Once he did that, we fought, and he ran off." Donald added. Kyrie nodded, her heart hammering as she inwardly sighed in relief. She already knew who the man was, because he had tried to save her not hours before.

"_At least Demyx managed to get away…at least no one got killed." _she thought in relief. If it were any other member besides Demyx, Xigbar, Axel, or Luxord, she couldn't care less. But those three grew on her, although whether or not Luxord liked her at all was still in the air.

"So after we got the Olympus Stone back, we ran in and found Meg sealed in some stone. I unlocked it, and a weird portal showed up. When we went through, we found Meg but Pete was there too. We managed to fight him off and protect her until Herc came, and with his help, we managed to beat Pete. And you know the rest." Sora finished. She smiled and nodded, at least now she knew what had happened in her absence.

Awhile after, Goofy came in with dinner in hand and everyone gathered at the small table, Donald setting the controls to auto-pilot as he did so. As they started digging in, Goofy looked at Donald.

"So, uh, Donald. When do ya suppose we'll get to the next world?" he asked. The duck was silent for a moment, before answering.

"I dunno, but it'll take all night. So-" but Kyrie wasn't paying much attention to the people in front of her, instead she had her mind on elsewhere.

"_Why was Demyx calling Sora "Roxas"? Roxas is gone, disappeared, for good. So why…" _she quickly looked out the window, and then back to her wrist where her charm bracelet hung, a single charm still adorning it. She gave a small, sad smile as a picture of Hercules and Meg flashed into her head, and the strange way that they looked at each other.

"_Axel…I hope you're doing okay."_

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><p><strong>And here's the end of another chapter. I think I have gotten out of my writer's block, but I can't be too sure. Oh well.<strong>

**Please read and review!**


	20. Disney Castle

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

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><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 20

It was morning when they finally reached a new world, but it wasn't exactly new to Donald and Goofy.

"The castle!" they cried in unison. Kyrie raised her eyebrow at them as they pressed their faces to the window while Sora drove. But she decided to let it go for now, she would ask when they landed.

"_Besides, I doubt they would pay attention to me, anyways. They look like they're about to bust through the glass." _she thought as she watched them, an amused smile on her face. Sora was careful as he landed the ship in some sort of hangar, before the four jumped off the ship and looked around with curious eyes.

"This is your castle…must be nice to be home, huh?" Sora asked as he held his hands behind his head, looking around with curiosity. Kyrie was silent, this was Donald and Goofy's home?

"_It must feel nice, having a home to go to…" _she thought for a moment with a twinge of pain. At first she kinda knew the feeling when she was with the org., but now…she didn't have a home anymore.

"Ya know, somethin' just don't feel quite right…" Goofy spoke uneasily, placing his hand against his chin. Donald nodded as he crossed his arms, looking around to see if perhaps something was out of place.

"Yeah." He agreed. Everyone was silent before Kyrie picked up the sound of scampering little feet and looked up, to see two small chipmunks as they stared at them from the top of the stairs.

"You're back!" they cried as they scampered down the stairs, making Kyrie smile a little at their cuteness.

"_These two must be Chip and Dale, the chipmunks Sora and the others told me about." _she thought as they slid down the staircase and jumped, landing on her shoulders. They looked at her for a moment, before looking at the three behind her.

"Move it! Let's go!" the one with the red nose ordered as they started to jump up and down on Kyrie's shoulders. She giggled silently as their little feet tickled her bare shoulders.

"Queen Minnie needs to see you!" the one with the black nose exclaimed. The one with the red nose nodded as he pointed up the staircase.

"The castle's in danger!" he cried. "Hurry! To the library!" and without a moment's hesitation, the four were running up the stairs, the two chipmunks clinging to Kyrie's shoulders as they did so. When they got to the courtyard with the large, animal-like topiary, dozens of shadows and soldiers showed up and proceeded to attack the group. Kyrie summoned her keyblades and while keeping a careful eye on the chipmunks on her shoulders, fought the heartless as they tried to clear a safe path.

This fight continued into the castle, where even more heartless scattered the hallways. Donald and Goofy ran ahead to a pair of double doors at the end of the hallway while Sora and Kyrie fought their way through. Once they got to the door, they rushed through as Sora and Kyrie slammed the doors shut.

"_I've never seen so many heartless in such small space…" _she thought as she panted lightly, before she spotted Donald saluting a small, feminine mouse who was standing in front of the many bookcases that surrounded the room.

"Your Majesty! Queen Minnie! We're back!" Donald spoke as he saluted the mouse. She was dressed elegantly with a gold and red crown resting on top of her head, between her ears, and wore white arm gloves. She smiled at the duck.

"You're here!" She spoke in relief. Goofy was next as he stepped forward and saluted as well. Kyrie held back a silent giggle at the way the two looked.

"_Do they always salute royalty, or is this a new thing?" _she thought as she watched them.

"Your Royal Highness, did ya happen to summon us?" Goofy asked as he stared at her. She nodded sadly.

"Yes." She answered. Suddenly Sora walked forward, placing a hand on both of their shoulders as he looked around.

"Where's the King?" he asked. Kyrie face-palmed as Donald jumped up and grabbed Sora's head, pulling it down as the boy protested.

"Excuse him. This is our friend, Sora." Donald explained. Then he looked at Kyrie, and before he could speak, she was at their side and gave a small curtsy for the queen, making the mouse smile and giggle lightly.

"And this is Kyrie, she hasn't been traveling with us for very long." he added. She nodded as she looked at Sora.

"The King told me all about you in his letters. He said you're a very brave young man. And in one of his recent letters, he did say that a quiet and very kind young woman was accompanying you." She explained. Kyrie blushed a little and Sora brushed his nose with his finger, both embarrassed and honored by the King's kind words.

"So, do you know where he is?" he asked. The queen shook her head sadly and the boys sighed, with only Kyrie managing to keep a straight face because she didn't really know anything about the king. But within seconds, Donald snapped back into reality and looked at her.

"Your Majesty, what are Heartless doing in your castle?" he asked. She gasped softly before clasping her hands together.

"Oh my…so those are the Heartless." She said softly, worriedly. Kyrie was silent as she stared at the mouse, it was obvious that she had never seen a heartless before. But her calmness about the entire matter surprised her.

"Don't worry; we'll take care of 'em!" Sora assured her, making the queen smile at him thankfully.

"I know I can count on you, Sora." She spoke, trusting the young man in front of her. "Oh, and you too, Kyrie. The king told me that you take good care of Sora, Donald, and Goofy, and try to keep them out of trouble." she continued, looking at Kyrie. She blushed a little at the queen's compliment.

"Now there's something I'd like all of you to come and see. Would you please escort me to the audience chamber?" she spoke, looking at Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Kyrie. They nodded but she gasped suddenly, alarmed.

"I forgot to warn everyone else in the castle about the danger!" She gasped, making Kyrie pale. If any of them where to run into the heartless- "We must be sure they're hidden somewhere safe!" Sora nodded in response.

"Okay, we'll go tell them!" Donald stared at the boy with wide eyes.

"The whole castle?" He asked. Goofy nodded as he placed a hand on the duck's shoulder.

"We just gotta split up, Donald." He explained. Sora nodded in agreement.

"I'll make sure that everyone knows what's going on." He exclaimed, and was about to run out of the room before Donald and Goofy stopped him.

"No, Sora, you'll just get lost!" Donald exclaimed. Sora chuckled in embarrassment as he scratched the back of his head, making Kyrie giggle. The queen giggled silently as well at the expression on Sora's face.

"Okay. Then I'll stay with the Queen." He decided. Then he looked at Kyrie. "What about you, Kyrie?" he asked. She was silent before grabbing her notebook and began to write.

**I'll stay with you. Besides, you can't take on so many heartless by yourself and protect the queen at the same time.**

Sora nodded and with that, Donald and Goofy ran out of the room. All was silent for a few moments before both Sora and Kyrie turned to the queen.

"Um, the audience chamber, right, ma'am?" he asked her uncertainly. The small mouse nodded.

"Yes, Sora. Let's be on our way." she answered. Both inclined their heads and summoned their keyblades, Kyrie taking the front, Sora taking the back. Kyrie slammed the doors opened and ran out, managing to catch a few heartless by surprise as she slashed her keyblades through them, slaying them. As they made their way down the long hallway, Sora and Kyrie fought valiantly, not letting a single heartless within mere feet of Queen Minnie. Once they got to a large pair of double doors, Kyrie stood protectively in front of both Sora and the queen, making sure no heartless would come near.

"_Heartless are so damn persistent!" _she thought with distaste as she looked around. Once she made sure none were coming, she turned to them just as a seal disappeared from the larger doors and a smaller door opened from one of them.

"Now then…shall we?" Queen Minnie asked. Both nodded in unison and walked through the doors, only to be surprised by a massive horde of Bolt Towers. The queen gasped as she stepped back in shock.

"Not here, too!" she cried. Within seconds both of them were in front of her, keyblades at the ready.

"We got 'em." Sora assured her. Kyrie nodded in agreement and ran forward, jumping into the air above two Bolt Towers and came down, slamming both her keyblades into them and slicing them down the middle. With that they continued on, their destination, the throne.

But halfway through, both of them had to rush in and take care of the Bolt Towers, leaving the queen unprotected. That was a big mistake.

"Ah! Sora!" Kyrie's head snapped back to the queen as Bolt Towers came at her, and without a moment's hesitation, she dove in. She ran in front of the queen and ducked to her height, wrapping her arms around the mouse and holding her tightly. There was no time to use a counterattack, of any kind, against them.

"_This is it-" _she thought as she closed her eyes, holding the queen tightly as she used her body as a shield. Suddenly a flash of bright light and warmth flooded her senses, and she opened her eyes. The pendant around her neck and the queen's ring began to glow, resonating. Because of this, a shield of pure light wrapped around them, stronger than Kyrie's shield, and began to push the heartless back as it grew. It was like a wave, and it destroyed the heartless as it washed over them, startling Sora as the wave passed over him.

Thankfully, it did not harm him, and just kept going, destroying heartless as it did so. Kyrie felt a strange but wonderful power resonate deep inside of her, making her sigh longingly as she closed her eyes for a moment.

"_This light…it's so warm. Is it…my light?" _she thought, a small smile on her face. Her eyes were open in an instant, and she stood, releasing her hold on the queen. She'd apologize for her rudeness later.

They quickly made their way to the throne, and just as they got there, more Bolt Towers showed up.

"Come on, gimme a break!" Sora groaned as he stared at the horde. Kyrie nodded, silently agreeing with him, as the queen ran over to the throne. With that she pressed a button, and the throne began to move, a bright light emerging from below it.

"Huh?" Sora gasped as the light washed over them, filling Kyrie with strength and a strange mix of sensations. Hope, relief, warmth, all those good feelings you could ever feel were mixed in as the light washed over her, leaving her completely breathless. For her, it was like taking a breath of fresh, clean air for the very first time.

"_What is this…that I'm feeling?" _she thought as she placed a hand over her beating heart as it thrummed wildly inside her chest. She looked up and was surprised to see that the heartless were gone, like they had never been there to begin with.

"The room below is called the "Hall of the Cornerstone."." the Queen spoke as she began. Kyrie turned just as the queen began walking down the steps, before she ran to catch up to her.

"Our castle has always been safe from worlds that are evil…thanks to the Cornerstone of Light which we keep down there." She continued. Sora watched the two as they walked down the steps for a moment, completely confused.

"The Cornerstone… of Light?" he asked in bewilderment. He quickly shook his head to clear away his thoughts as he ran after them, trying to catch up to the two as they headed down the stairs. Once they got to the bottom and walked though the doorway, they stared around in awe. In the center of the room was a large, green orb filled with light. But dark, sharp thorns scattered throughout the room, invoking a feeling of dread. They could hear the familiar steps of Donald and Goofy as they approached, but Kyrie's eyes were glued to the sphere.

"_**Help…me…"**_

"_Huh?" _she thought as she looked around, but no one had spoken.

"_**Help…me…princess…" **_

She looked at the sphere immediately, was it…calling to her? Judging from the others, only she could hear this voice. But…why?

"_What do you want from me?" _she thought back to the pleading voice. It sounded neither male or female, but it did sound like a child's. So young and innocent…

"_**It…hurts. Stop the…pain. Stop the…darkness…"**_

"This is the castle's cherished Cornerstone. But look. The thorns…they must be the work of someone very evil. I wonder what this could mean…" the queen explained as she pointed to the sphere. But within seconds, a flurry of green flames erupted next to the Cornerstone, and a familiar green face dressed in black appeared. Maleficent stood next to the Cornerstone, her body translucent, as she stared calmly and nonchalantly at the group.

"Maleficent!" Donald quacked in surprise as he jumped back. The others stared at her with the same look of both shock and bewilderment, how did she get here?

"No way!" Sora gasped. But Kyrie simply narrowed her eyes, now she knew what was causing the object so much pain, it was her. She looked around and eyed the group, a sneer on her face before her eyes flickered over to Kyrie, and the sneer grew.

"Well, well, well. What have we here…?" She paused, the sneer growing. "If it isn't the wretched Keyblade holder, and his pitiful lackeys! Ah, and the princess of Light too, I am so sorry that we weren't properly acquainted the last time that we saw each other. " Kyrie just simply continued to glare at the witch, not amused in the slightest by her comments. But she could hear someone mumbling behind her.

"Princess of light? Who's that?" but she quickly ignored the words, looking back at Maleficent.

"_You're lucky you didn't catch me, or else you'd be melted by now by a bucket of water." _she thought smugly. But Donald was quick to anger as he summoned his staff.

"What? Now you're gonna deal with me!" he shouted as he ran at her, but when he leaped, he went right through her and hit the podium the cornerstone rested on.

"All in good time. I promise you'll be able to partake of my vengeance. But you must be patient." She spoke, smirking at the group in front of her. She completely ignored poor Donald, who was massaging his face to ease the pain.

"Just what are you doing here, Maleficent?" the queen demanded as she took a step forward, glaring defiantly at the witch. But she gave a sickly smile, and a small bow.

"Ah, Queen Minnie. Radiant, as always. I'm here on a property venture. I want this castle for my own. However, it's a bit too 'bright'; for what I have in mind. I suppose I'll just have to fill every room with my personal touch of darkness." She explained. Kyrie heard a small cry of pain, and she knew. The stone was suffering.

Without a second thought, she rushed forward and touched the cornerstone just as Maleficent reached for it, only to have her hand repelled by a flash of light. Maleficent glared at the girl as she glared defiantly back.

"_As long as I'm around, you're not going to cause any more pain." _she thought as she glared.

"You impudent little wretch." Maleficent growled at her.

"You'd better stop right now if you know what's good for you!" Minnie warned. But she paid no mind to the queen's warning.

"Ooh, how frightening." She replied sarcastically. The others growled at her, but Kyrie remained calm. She could feel her strength pouring into the large sphere, seeming to give it the strength to keep the darkness at bay. Maleficent glanced at her from the corner of her eye, before looking at the group.

"Very well. I'll stop… just as soon as the castle belongs to me!" and with that, she disappeared in a flurry of green flames, her cackles bouncing off the walls and reverberating throughout the room. Sora snorted.

"What a hag." He commented. Kyrie nodded in agreement, but didn't move from where she stood. She could feel that the Cornerstone needed her.

"_**Thank…you. Please…stay…"**_

"_I will. Don't worry."_

"Nothing like this has ever happened before." She could hear the queen explain. "I looked through all the records in the library, but I couldn't find a single clue." All was silent before Goofy gasped, an idea popping into his head.

"Ohh!" he gasped. Everyone looked at him, in a sense surprised that it was he who got an idea first.

"We should go ask somebody who knows lotsa stuff that ain't in any book!" he explained. Everyone was silent as they tried to think of someone that matched that description.

"Merlin the Wizard!" Donald exclaimed suddenly. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Yes! That's perfect! Merlin just might know something about this mess. Let's ask his advice!" Queen Minnie agreed, relief washing over her features.

"We saw him in Hollow Bastion, right?" Goofy asked as he turned to Sora and Donald. The two nodded.

"Yeah. Let's go!" Sora declared. They were about to run out of the room before stopping, noticing that Kyrie had yet to move from where she stood next to the cornerstone, her hand planted firmly against it.

"Aren't you coming, Kyrie?" he asked. She was silent before looking at the stone.

"_Will you be fine without me here?"_

"_**I…don't know. The darkness…it's so strong…" **_with that, she turned to the others and shook her head, bewildering them beyond belief.

"Huh? Why?" he asked. She was silent before motioning for them to come over, pulling out her notebook as she did so.

**Because the cornerstone is crying, I can somehow hear it. It needs someone who can give it strength to fight off the darkness for now, someone like me. Someone who is tied so strongly to the light.**

The group stared at her in blatant confusion, before shrugging their shoulders.

"If you're sure…we'll be back ASAP! C'mon, let's go!" and with that, the three turned and darted out of the room, leaving her and queen Minnie behind.

* * *

><p><strong>Yes. Now we're at Disney Castle. Not much is going to go on in this world, except a lot of questions are gonna be ask. Oh well. and I'm finally off of my block, whoo!<strong>

**Please read and review!**


	21. Off to Atlantica

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 21

She didn't know how long she waited, sitting next to the cornerstone of light. After getting tired of standing, she decided to sit next to the stone as close as possible, and lend it her strength. The queen simply watched her the entire time, not once breaking the silence or making a sound of any sort.

They just simply waited.

But all of a sudden, they could hear Donald's voice, loud and illegible, as he was speaking to someone. A puff of smoke appeared, with Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Merlin standing in the center of the room.

"Perhaps, I'd better just see for myself." Merlin told Donald. The duck simply crossed his arms and scowled as the old wizard approached the cornerstone, taking note of Kyrie as he looked at it, stroking his beard.

"Mm-hmm…interesting…" he mumbled as he stroked his beard. All was silent for a few moments before the queen spoke up, interrupting his thoughts.

"What's happening, Merlin?" she asked worriedly. The old wizard ceased stroking his beard and looked at her, his voice grave.

"This is not good. In fact, I'm afraid, it's quite serious." He explained. Within seconds he turned, and with a wave of his hands, a silver door appeared in a flash of smoke and bright light. The others stared at the door in confusion, and Kyrie could feel something strange coming from the door. It felt…wrong.

"What's that?" Sora asked curiously as he eyed the door, making the old wizard turn to him.

"My boy, that is a gateway to a special world. Someone in that world is responsible for what's going on in this castle. Of that, I'm certain." He explained.

"Oh boy!" Donald cried in joy. Goofy nodded as he patted Donald's shoulder.

"We knew we could count on you, Merlin!" he smiled, his idea actually working instead of backfiring on him. Sora turned to the others and clenched his fist, smiling.

"Then we should go get him!" he quickly reached for the door handles before Merlin intervened.

"Wait a moment!" he cried as he placed a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"The perpetrators must be stopped, of course. But there's something else to do first. Somewhere in that world, there should be another door that's identical to this one. I believe our enemies are utilizing that door. As long as it remains open, the castle will be in grave danger. Listen carefully, Sora. You must find that door. And when you do… lock it with your Keyblade." He explained, giving Sora the instructions the boy probably needed. Kyrie was silent as all this went on, should she go with them? Or should she stay behind?

"_But what if something happens to the cornerstone while we're gone? Should I risk it? But what about their safety?" _all these thoughts were jumping around inside her skull, beginning to give her a massive headache.

"Now, one more thing. You're heading into a very special world. While you're there, the nature of that world may tempt you to do something dark. You must resist that temptation at all costs!" He warned them. Sora stared at him blankly.

"What do you mean?" he asked. But the wizard merely wagged his finger at them.

"You'll know soon enough. I have faith in you my lads. Oh, but there is one thing. I request that the girl remain here, since she is lending her own strength to the Cornerstone, protecting the castle while doing so. I hope you don't mind." Kyrie gave a small sigh, at least now she didn't have to make that decision. Sora nodded.

"Okay. C'mon guys, let's go." and with that, they opened the door and walked through.

-Later-

As they waited impatiently for their return, Kyrie could sense changes in the cornerstone, and lent her strength to it where it seemed that the darkness would snuff out its light. But a while later, the thorns disappeared and the door began to shake, throwing Sora, Donald, and Goofy out.

"You're back!" one of the chipmunks, Chip, cried. While the three were gone, the chipmunks made their way downstairs and joined them as they waited. Kyrie smiled, she could already feel the light coming back into the cornerstone of light.

"_Are you better now?"_

"_**Yes. Tell them I said thank you." **_She quickly got to her feet and rushed over, eager to make sure that none of them were injured.

"N-Now, I hope you didn't do anything reckless while you were there?" Merlin asked them worriedly. Kyrie immediately pounced on them, hugging them in relief, which they returned gladly. Donald, having gotten out of her hold, looked at the wizard.

"Of course not!" he exclaimed. But the looks on Sora and Goofy's faces told otherwise, as they snickered into their hands. But something caught the duck's eye and he turned, a surprised look on his face when a female duck dressed in an elegant purple dress appeared in the doorway.

"Daisy!" he cried as he ran over. "Daisy, I'm back!" he continued as they stopped a few inches away from each other. Kyrie gave a confused look as well as Sora, they didn't know who she was or why Donald was acting so strange.

"Who?" Sora asked as he looked at Goofy. The dog smiled.

"Daisy is Donald's very special sweetheart." He explained, a huge smile on his face. Sora smirked as he held his hands behind his head.

"Really…" he spoke teasingly. Kyrie gave a soft smile, but was still confused. What was a sweetheart? But the second the two reunited Daisy gave Donald an irritated look and she knew he was in for it.

"Donald, you forgot about our date again! You'd better have a good excuse this time!" she scolded as she wagged her finger at him. He backed up a little, holding his hands up in surrender.

"But Daisy...I…" he tried to explain, but she was at it again.

"I know it's an important mission, but you could at least check in every once in a while." She complained. He looked at the others expectantly, but Sora and Goofy were staying out of this one and Kyrie had absolutely no idea what was going on.

"Sora…" Donald started, before eyeing the door from the corner of his eye. Before he could make a move, Daisy grabbed his tail feathers and refused to let go.

"Going somewhere?" she asked. He quickly shook his head, knowing he'd upset her otherwise.

"Of course not!" he cried as he shook her off, making her fall over as he ran.

"Donald!" she cried as she got up and ran after him, chasing him around the group as they did so. The group watched the two go at this for awhile, before it was finally time to say goodbye.

"Goodbye Queen Minnie, Daisy. We'll bring the king back safe an' sound." Goofy spoke as the four bade goodbye to the castle residents. Sora nodded as well as Kyrie before Donald walked up and clasped Daisy's hands.

"Don't worry Daisy, I'll be back soon. Then we'll go on a date, I promise." he explained. She gave him a small smile, a little tear forming at the corner of her eye.

"Okay, I can wait. I love you Donald."

"I love you too, Daisy." Kyrie watched the exchange between the two with confused eyes, love? She's heard the word before…but what did it mean?

"_Love…what is it?" _she thought as she watched the couple. Once they were done, they were off.

-Meanwhile, the World that Never Was-

Axel was silent as he walked through the Dark city, irritated and confused. Ever since he came back from Beast's castle, all he could think about was Kyrie. But not in the same way.

All he could think about was how she felt in his arm, how her hair smelt, how her heart would beat wildly inside her chest when he was around, how she would give him a gentle smile and stare at him with her dark brown irises, and how the sun would reflect her hair like fresh snow on a winter day.

All these things he thought of, and for some reason, just thinking about her in that sense brought a terrible ache in his chest, where his heart would be. And there was more than that. He was supposed to feel guilty, because he tried to kiss her in her sleep!

"_Why did I try to do that? She's my best friend…friends aren't supposed to do that." _he thought angrily as he walked, trying to blow some steam. But along with these strange feelings for her, he also felt unbearably lonely.

Roxas was gone, and he was all alone. Kyrie was too busy hanging around Sora, and he could risk her safety by hanging around her and Roxas' other. But then again, it's not like she asked to go with him. She was forced to.

But maybe…he could free her from that. If only…if only Roxas was here…

"_That's it! If I can turn Sora into a heartless, Kyrie could be free and we'd both have Roxas back!" _he thought, almost smug at the idea. With Roxas back, Sora would be a heartless and Roxas, himself, and Kyrie could go back to the way things used to be.

It was perfect.

-Kyrie-

Kyrie was silent as she watch the stars pass by, lost in thought. Sora and Goofy were in the middle of a card game, and Donald was busy driving the ship. She gave a soft sigh, her chin resting in the palm of her hand.

"_Love…what is it?" _she thought curiously. Seeing the way Donald and Daisy looked at each other, it was the same look that Beast and Belle gave each other, as well as Hercules and Meg. Was love something…special? Something only two people could share?

A sudden jolt from the ship snapped her out of her thoughts as she looked around, surprised to see that they were underwater. Where the heck were they?

"Hey, it's Atlantica!" Sora cried in excitement as he and Goofy rushed over to the windows, pressing their faces against the glass to get a better view. But Kyrie was far from excited at the sight of the water surrounding the ship. She felt her heart begin to speed up, and her breaths become fast and labored.

The feeling of sinking, falling. Having the air slowly stolen from you as you sank deeper and deeper into the water…

The dream of what happened in Radiant Garden came to her quickly, and she felt a griping fear take her as she backed up against the wall, trying to find any means of escape.

"Kyrie? Are you okay? You're shaking…" snapping back out of her hysteria, she saw Sora, Donald, and Goofy as they stared at her in concern. She tried taking a deep breath, but it came out in a short and breathy gasp. She quickly pulled out her notebook, trying to keep herself from flipping out.

**I'm okay. I'm just…scared of the water is all. I'll be fine.**

"Scared of the water? That's silly! Why would you be scared of the water?" Sora laughed. But Kyrie only looked down in shame, making the boy stop short and look at her.

"Oh…sorry…" he mumbled when he realized his mistake. She gave him a small smile, it wasn't his fault. Goofy was silent for a moment before speaking up.

"Why don't ya stay here while we go and see Ariel and the others? That way, you won't have to go anywhere near the water." he suggested. She gave a small nod before he pointed to the sleeping quarters.

"And since there's no windows in there, you can go back there if you want to avoid lookin' at the water." he added. She nodded and gave him a small hug as the three headed off into the new world, leaving her behind. She stood there silently for a few moments, before heading into the sleeping quarters and shutting the door. Curling up on one of the bunk beds, she gave a soft, irritated sigh.

She hated this fear. It was irrational, she shouldn't be afraid. But she couldn't stop it from gripping her every time she thought of the water.

"_Why am I so afraid? Was it because of the dream? I was fine when we crossed the river back in the land of dragons…" _she thought as she silently sat there. Then a thought came to her.

"_Maybe I'm not afraid of the water…but I'm afraid of the depth. It makes sense, because the river only reached my shins, it wasn't deep. This water surrounds the ship, so…" _she gave a grim smile and opened her backpack, bringing out her star plush and her white Wayfinder. She hugged the star close to her chest with one hand while the other held the Wayfinder in front of her. She stared at it and frowned a little.

"_I wish you were here…Axel. You always keep me safe."_

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><p><strong>Okay, so this chapter was boring, but next chapter a certain blonde nobody will appear. Care to take a guess?<strong>

**Please read and review!**


	22. What're you doing here?

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 22

Kyrie gave a small sigh as she walked around the ship, for the fiftieth time that day. It had been a while since Sora, Donald, and Goofy went to Atlantica, and she was bored as hell. She sighed and plopped down on a chair, slumping into it.

"_So bored…" _she thought as she gave a soft sigh. She was silent for a few moments before an idea popped into her head, making her smile.

"_I know, I can use my keyblade to get to some dry land, and I could maybe sketch a drawing or two. Then, I'll just use my keyblade to get back! But first…" _she walked over to the sleeping quarters, opened the door, walked in, and quickly grabbed a piece of paper from Donald's bed. Using the wall as a desk, she grabbed her pen and began to write.

**Taking a nap. I locked the door so I wouldn't be disturbed. I'll be up around dinner.**

**Lots of love,**

**Kyrie**

Smiling to herself, she opened the door and posted the note before locking the door. With that, she summoned her white kingdom key and pointed it at the wall across from her.

"_Take me to nearby dry land." _she commanded. The keyblade emitted a flash of light, and a light corridor opened for her. Grabbing her backpack, she walked through.

-Atlantica, Seashore-

Kyrie exited out of the light corridor and was surprised at what she saw. She was on a beach, and there was a castle and town a little bit further down from the beach. She smiled a bit at this.

"_Well, I didn't expect it to be this close, but that's okay. At least I'm not under the water anymore." _sighing in relief, she found a large boulder to sit on as she pulled out her art utensils and her sketchbook. She began to sketch, many images and ideas coming into her head before she finally settled on one. It was more of a dream, really.

But it was something she wished more than anything else in the world.

While she was doing this, however, a familiar face spotted her as they looked for a place to write their music. The person was surprised at her appearance, but decided to keep quiet as they watched her do her work.

Once she was done, she looked down at the drawing and smiled.

"_This looks…" _she didn't know what to say. The picture was of her, Axel, Roxas, Xion, Demyx, Xigbar, Namine, Kairi, Sora, Donald, and Goofy as they played on the beach in the Destiny Islands. Demyx and Xigbar were the furthest away, one strumming his sitar and the other watching the group with a smirk on his face.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy were splashing in the water. Roxas, Xion, Kairi, and Namine were walking along the beach, picking up Thalasha seashells and other types of shells. Axel and herself were sitting nearby in the shade of the palm trees, looking at the others with her sitting between his legs, his arms wrapped around her shoulders while her arms came up vertically, wrapping around his. Everyone was smiling…

But this made her frown sadly. It was only a little dream, a dream that would never come true. Xion and Roxas were gone, and she didn't know if Axel, Demyx, and Xigbar would live through this venture.

"_But what can I do? How can I get them to join our side? I don't want to lose them…" _she thought sadly as she stared at the drawing. Suddenly, a hand on her shoulder snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Wow Kyrie, this looks great! But how come I'm all the way in the back?" gasping loudly, she jumped ten feet into the air before turning around, and heaving a sigh of relief. It was only Demyx, who was carrying his sitar as he stared at her curiously, eyebrow raised. After a moment, she glared at him and pulled out her notebook, putting her art utensils and sketchbook away as she did so.

**Demyx, you jerk! You scared me! **

The melodious nocturne backed up a few steps, raising his arms in self-defense.

"Whoa, okay, okay! Jeez Kyrie, I'm sorry if I scared you. I was actually surprised, I haven't seen you since Olympus Coliseum, when you disappeared on me." he explained. She was silent for a few moments before nodding, forgiving him for now. He quickly took the spot next to her and began strumming his sitar.

"So what happened back there, anyways? Why'd you disappear on me?" he asked. She began writing, telling him of what happened between her kidnapping at Olympus Coliseum and their current situation here at Atlantica. He nodded as he read her words, looking surprised at some points.

"Okay, so that explains a lot of things. And here I thought you just went and ditched me." he joked. She giggled silently before writing more.

**So Demyx, why are you here? I didn't think the organization ventured to worlds like this, where there's a ton of water but very little land.**

"Oh, that's easy. I come here to either practice with my water clones or write music. This place has a calming feel to it, so it helps with my creativity." he answered. She rolled her eyes a little, it was so much like him. The two were silent for a moment as he began to strum a calming tune, before he looked at her.

"So what's with Axel, lately? All he's been doing is going into the Dark city and coming back, like something's bothering him. You got any ideas?" he asked. She was silent before shrugging her shoulders and writing.

**I haven't the slightest clue. Ever since he came to see me at Beast's Castle, he's been avoiding me. I think. I haven't seen him since then.**

He nodded, not really pleased with her answer.

"So you don't know anything?" he asked. She shook her head, as far as she knew, she didn't know what made Axel act so strange when he left back at Beast's castle. He sighed.

"Okay, I'll try and ask him myself. That is, if he doesn't fry me." he spoke, making her giggle silently at the thought. After that, the two continued on as they told each other what they had been up to lately, with him doing all of the talking and her doing all of the writing. Demyx cracked jokes every now and again, making her laugh silently as he did so.

Time flew by, and before they knew it, it was sunset. She looked at the horizon where the sun made the water glimmer, before standing up. Demyx looked up, giving her a frown.

"You have to go?" he asked. She nodded, and he sighed.

"Okay, I guess I'll see you later. Be careful, okay? Because Axel would be devastated if something were to happen to you." the response made her blush, and she quickly summoned her keyblade and used it to get back to the ship. Demyx stared at the place where she had once been, before giving a soft sigh. He may be a lazy, cowardly nobody, but he wasn't an idiot. He could see things, like the change with Axel and Kyrie's relationship. He knew that they were more than just friends, but the two were so dense that it made Roxas' somebody, Sora, look smart.

Everyone who knew them could see that they were very close, closer than normal friends should be. Even Xemnas picked it up, and the guy was about as emotionless as a doll. But he didn't know what to call the bond that the two shared, because is wasn't a sibling bond like he had with her, and it wasn't a parental bond like Xigbar had with her. "Friends" didn't seem to fit, because they were closer than that. So what do you call people who are more than just friends?

-Back at the Gummi Ship-

Kyrie stepped out of the portal, finding herself back in the sleeping quarters again. She could hear muffled talking, and knew that Sora and the others were back. Smiling, she unlocked the door and stepped out, surprised to see the boys slumped in their chairs. She raised her eyebrows at them, before approaching the closest one to her, Sora.

**Are you guys okay? You look…worn out.**

"Nah, we're fine…really." he answered, but she didn't believe him. Rolling her eyes, she walked over to the steering wheel and took charge, making Donald sit in her usual seat as she started the ship. Once she got the ship in the air, they took off. Taking a quick glance behind her, she smiled when she spotted the three passed out in their chairs, snoring loudly.

"_It's the least I can do. They never get a moment's rest…" _

-Meanwhile, Hollow Bastion-

All was quiet as a woman with green skin dressed in black paced, walking around a dilapidated room, her partner watching her closely, but was more worried about his own hide than hers. They were currently in an equally dilapidated castle, surrounded by a sea of heartless that were drawn to the castle's darkness.

"Hmph, that wretched keyblade bearer has trifled with me for the last time!" she growled, slamming the bottom of her staff into the ground, creating an indentation. Her companion jumped at this.

"I'm s-sorry Maleficent, those punks stopped me just when I had the-"

"Enough, Pete!" she snapped, glaring at him. Pete jumped in fright, covering his head with his hands as he prepared himself to face her wrath. But she calmed after a moment, puzzling him as he lowered his arms.

"But no matter. The girl…she can be quite useful for our cause. Pete," he stiffened at his name. "Next time you should happen to catch sight of them, bring her to me. Use any means necessary, but do not harm her. We need her safe and unharmed if we're to accomplish our goal."

"An' what goal would that be?" Pete asked, confused. She gave him a sinister smirk, making him tremble from the crown of his head to the back of his heels.

"Why, to make Kingdom Hearts my dominion, of course." she answered. This made him quiet for a moment, before he looked at her again.

"So why's she so important? What makes her so special?" he asked. She glared murderously at him, making him duck and cover his head again.

"How many times must I explain this, she is the Princess of Light! The very essence of the door to light, which lies dormant inside Kingdom Hearts!" she exclaimed. He nodded frantically before she continued.

"Once she is within our grasp, we can use her to force open Kingdom Hearts, and lead us to the true power that lies deep inside it. Then we can conquer the worlds using my darkness, combined with its power!" she finished. He was silent again, before asking something that bothered him.

"But Maleficent, if there's a princess o' light, ain't there a princess or prince o' darkness? Y'know, someone who's the opposite of her?" he asked. She was silent before stroking her crow that rested on her shoulder.

"There is, but sadly, the Prince of Darkness is far out of our reach. After all, he's…"

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><p><strong>For those who guessed Demyx...you get a cookie! *hands over a digital cookie* Although I was surprised that a few of you said Roxas, as well as Luxord. And...<strong>**Uh-oh. Maleficent and Pete are up to no good again! Oh well...next chapter we'll meet an awesome pirate who can kick ass and still joke around. I bet you all know who it is...**

**Anyways, please read and review!**


	23. Weclome to Port Royal!

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

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><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 23

After a few hours of flying, the group arrived at the next world, relaxed and rejuvenated. This world was far different from the others they had ventured to, how or why, they couldn't place it.

But from where they landed, Kyrie could clearly see the ocean as well as the docks where a couple of ships were anchored in. They could see a large town that was close to the port, and just outside of the town, a large mansion.

"_This world…it feels both good and bad. I wonder why…" _she thought as she looked around. Behind her, she could see a large number of jail cells, a large bell, canons, and a few barrels that rested against the stone walls. Sora walked over and crossed his arms, surveying his surroundings.

"Wow!" Donald spoke, looking around at his surroundings in awe as he and Goofy joined Sora. The boy agreed with him as they looked around.

"This place is…" he trailed off, not exactly sure what word to use.

"Kinda different." Goofy added. Sora agreed with him as they walked over to the stone wall that overlooked everything. Suddenly, they could hear screaming and shouting from below. The boys immediately leaned over the wall, looking down as they watched the denizens run from men who carried weapons. Kyrie wrinkled her nose, those men were bad news, of that she was certain.

"Something's up." Sora spoke as he watched, his eyes narrowing as he tried to make sense of the situation.

"Organization XIII?" Goofy asked, confused a bit. Kyrie shook her head, these men weren't members of Organization XIII. She knew better than that, these men were humans.

"_But whoever these men are…they better be ready. I don't tolerate harassing and harming innocent people." _she thought as she clenched her fists from where they rested against the ledge.

"Or the Heartless!" Donald added. Sora shrugged his shoulders before he turned and started for the stairs.

"Only one way to find out!" he cried as he ran down them, with Donald and Goofy right behind him. Kyrie smiled as she shook her head, one of these days he was going to get in way over his head.

"_But I guess that's why I'm here, to make sure it doesn't happen." _she thought as she ran after them. When they got to the bottom of the stairs, she spotted a familiar large cat towering over a band of men, just about all of them carrying swords, axes, and other weapons.

"Hey!" Sora shouted as he stopped a short distance away, summoning his keyblade as he did so. Pete pointed at them, and within seconds Kyrie was next to Sora, both keyblades drawn as she got into position.

"See there? I knew it! Those are the punks I was tellin' ya about." He exclaimed as he pointed at them. Kyrie felt her eyebrow twitch as a scowl appeared on her face.

"_I'm a punk, am I? Why I'll-"_

"Who're you calling punks? It's Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Kyrie to you! And don't you forget it!" Sora shouted, offended that he was called a punk. But one man, who had a very large and strange hat, walked forward and smirked at the group. Kyrie narrowed her eyes, this man must be their leader.

"That we won't. And we'll engrave it on your tombstone, to be sure." The man spoke, making Sora, Donald, and Goofy stiffen. Kyrie snorted angrily, how dare he threaten her friends.

"Whoa! I like your style. But you better leave the girl for me. Maleficent wants her." Pete complimented, but the man ignored him. Kyrie simply glared at the man, her anger enveloping her. She was sure her eyes were changing color now, but she couldn't tell.

"_Over my dead body." _she thought with finality as the man turned to his minions.

"Men… half of you stay here and indulge these cullies. The rest… bring me that medallion!" he ordered. The men nodded.

"Aye!" they shouted in unison as half of them ran off, to look for the medallion. The rest came after them, their weapons raised. Kyrie could sense that something was different about these men, something that didn't quite seem right. She was proven correct when she tried slicing her keyblade through one of them, but the blow did zero damage.

"_What are these people?" _she thought as she jumped back, avoiding the man's axe as he brought it down.

"It's no use! We can't beat them!" she heard Sora shout. But suddenly, the were basked in moonlight, and the appearance of the men changed. She stiffened, taking a few steps back at the sight of them. They looked like skeletons, except she could clearly see their eyes and could see some parts of their flesh as it clung to their bodies. She covered her nose, they smell! It was like a decaying corpse, horrible and foul.

"You best be sayin' your prayers!" One of them said as he swung his axe, almost getting Donald's head. Pete gasped from behind them, and started waving his arms.

"Hey, watch out! They can see ya! Stay away from their magic!" he shouted. One of them looked at him.

"What for?" he asked. Pete rolled his eyes.

"Weren't you listenin' to me before?" Pete asked. Sora smirked at the group, before looking at Pete.

"Hey, Pete, thanks for the tip!" he called, causing him to gulp and cover his mouth. Kyrie smirked, before she ran in and used her keyblade to uppercut the man closest to her. The man went flying, and his comrade rushed in, itching to behead her.

"Why you stinkin' wench!" he shouted, but after a quick slice from Kyrie, he was down for the count. After about ten minutes of fighting, the men were gone, with only Pete remaining. Within seconds, he was running away as he shook his fist at them, shouting something or another. Kyrie quickly ignored this as she stared at her keyblades.

"_These men weren't heartless…" _she thought somberly. Sora looked in the direction of the town before looking at his companions.

"If Pete's here that must mean we have work to do." He sighed. Donald and Goofy agreed, but Kyrie just kept staring in the direction of the town.

"Yep. And that pirate captain looked pretty mean, too." Goofy added, worried at the thought.

"Man, I'd hate to see him turned into a Heartless." Sora agreed, staring off into space for a moment. Kyrie simply sighed and started for the town, now was not the time to talk about pirates being turned into heartless.

"Hey, Kyrie, wait up!" he called as he and the others ran to catch up to her. But once she started hearing a woman shouting and screaming in protest, she broke out into a mad dash.

"Elizabeth!" she heard a man's voice cry out, and looked ahead to see a man as he ran after something, only to be stopped by a group of heartless. He backed up a little, holding his arms up in defense as they inched closer.

"What are they?" she heard him ask.

"It's Heartless! Watch out!" Donald cried and within seconds, she and the boys were in front of him, weapons drawn. Sora looked back at the man as he stared at the group in confusion.

"We'll deal with them! Go! Take cover!" he ordered. The man nodded quickly and ran behind a barricade of barrels and boxes, while the group took on the heartless. Kyrie kept close to the barricade while Sora and the others rushed forward, making sure that no heartless got past her to get to the man. Once they were done, they turned to the man as he came out from behind the barricade.

"Well done! My own fencing skills are not to be ashamed of… but I've never faced foes such as that before." He complimented, making Sora grin as he held his arms behind his head.

"You really think we're that good?" he asked, making Kyrie roll her eyes. Donald and Goofy looked around before looking at the man again.

"Did you find your friend?" Goofy asked. But the man shook his head, his shoulders slumping as he did so. Kyrie felt bad for the man.

"I was too late. But I must rescue her! Would you help me?" He asked. The group nodded as Sora began the introductions.

"Of course! I'm Sora. This is Donald, Goofy, and Kyrie." He explained as he introduced them. The man nodded as he pointed to himself.

"And I'm William Turner, but call me Will." He explained. Sora nodded as he turned.

"Okay, Will. Let's go!" he exclaimed. But Kyrie was way ahead of him, running towards the docks. She could hear his groan behind her, and smiled a little despite herself.

"Aw, Kyrie! Why do you always run off?" she rolled her eyes at this as she ran, grinning widely as she did so.

"_Maybe because I have a very good indication on where they're taking Will's friend?" _she thought sarcastically. When they got to the docks, she groaned as they watched the ship that Elizabeth was on sail away. Kyrie groaned silently.

"_Aw great. Now we either hijack a ship to go after her, or we just give up. Decisions decisions…" _she thought. Will groaned loudly, making her turn to look at him as he slumped, looking dejected.

"We're too late." he groaned. She heard a sound like footsteps and turned her attention to the ship closest to them, where a dreadlocked man was walking, having heard their conversation.

"Then she's long gone. The Black Pearl is nigh uncatchable. Best find yourself another girl, mate." She heard the man talk, making Sora and the others look up on him as he approached the gangplank.

"You… What are you doing aboard the Interceptor? She's off limits to civilians." Will spoke sternly, making the man wave his hands in a strange pattern.

"If I should see one I'll shall inform you immediately." the man joked. Kyrie tried to hold back her silent giggles at that, this man was amusing to say the least. The man became serious as he looked at the group.

"Ah, fortunate that I'm going to commandeer her, then. She'll make a fine pirate ship." He explained. Sora brightened at this as he got closer to the ship.

"A pirate!" he exclaimed in excitement. Kyrie smiled as Donald and Goofy sighed, Sora was never the one to grasp the concept of a serious situation.

"Captain Jack Sparrow, if you please." The man, Jack, said as he introduced himself. Will was silent as he placed his hands against his chin, staring at Jack for a few moments. He lowered his hand, looking like he had something on his mind.

"Take me with you. Help me hunt down the Black Pearl and save Miss Swan. I got you out of that jail cell, Sparrow. Do this and your debt's repaid." He explained. The pirate captain shook his head, looking like he was in no mood to rescue damsels in distress.

"You'll have to win fair lady's heart alone, mate. I see no profit in it for me." He answered. Everyone sighed in defeat, but Kyrie wasn't the type to give up easily. She immediately began walking up the gangplank, walking right past the pirate captain as she did so. He turned, eyeing her as she walked over to the wheel and placed her hands on it, as if she were going to steer it.

"Now what do ye think you're doing, lass?" Jack asked as he raised an eyebrow at the girl. She stared silently back, holding the handles of the wheel tightly in case the man walked over and tried to throw her overboard. He stared silently back, before sighing and shrugging his shoulders.

"Seems your lady-friend wants to commandeer the ship herself, so you're all free to come aboard. No use in arguing." he explained as he turned to Sora, Will, Donald, and Goofy. The group smiled as they walked on the gangplank.

"Thanks, Sparrow." Will said gratefully. But Jack simply stared at him, annoyed.

"_Captain_ Sparrow." He emphasized, clearly annoyed at the lack of title. Kyrie simply giggled silently as she moved away from the wheel and walked over to Sora, Donald, and Goofy. Sora turned to the man as he once again began the introductions.

"I'm Sora. This is Donald, Goofy, and Kyrie." Sora explained as he pointed to each person. They waved at the captain before Will spoke up.

"I'm Will Turner." Jack stared at the man, a mixture of expressions on his face, before he spoke.

"That would be short for William, I imagine. No doubt for your father, eh?" he commented out of the blue. Will gave him a confused look before nodding uncertainly.

"Yes." He answered. Kyrie quickly turned her attention to the ocean as they talked, staring uncertainly at the water as she did so. She was still afraid of the deep, dark waters, but she had to keep her head. They were on a ship, the only danger would be if the ship sunk.

"_Argh, stop thinking bad thoughts! We'll be fine, there's absolutely nothing to worry about…" _she thought as she slammed her palms against her temples, trying to block out all negative thoughts. Turning her attention back to the others, she realized that Jack, Sora, Donald, and Goofy were off the ship and on the docks while Will was standing near the wheel. Exchanging a few words, Jack walked off, and the others boarded the ship again. Kyrie immediately walked over, pulling out her notebook as she did so.

**Hey, where's Jack going?**

"Oh, he said there was some stuff he needed to get. We're supposed to stay and guard the ship." Sora explained. She nodded before Goofy placed a hand on her shoulder, looking at her worriedly.

"You okay? You sure are shakin'…" he asked. She suddenly realized the slight tremors that shook her body, and tried to calm herself. Donald placed his hand on hers as he too, stared at her in concern.

"You still scared of the water?" he asked. She was about to shake her head, but Sora's look stopped her. He looked a little guilty, and she felt bad.

**I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me so much, I can take care of myself. Besides, if not for me, we wouldn't be on this adventure to save a damsel in distress.**

The three looked at her uncertainly before Sora nodded.

"Oh, okay…ah! Here comes Jack!" Sora exclaimed as he pointed. They turned and spotted the captain as he approached, a few potions and whatnot in hand.

"Alright mates, time to sail off."

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><p><strong>Whoo! Jack's here! In all of KHII, this world had to be one of my most favorite worlds to visit. ...And it's not because of the awesome dreadlocked captain! ...Okay, maybe it is. But still, Port Royal was definitely a plus for KHII.<strong>

**Anyways...read and review. Because if you don't, a band of cursed pirates will come after you!**


	24. You don't have to be afraid

**Okay guys, sorry for being MIA for a few days. My computer's security went a bit crazy, and being the paranoid one that I am, I took it to get fixed. Now I'm back, so you can dry your tears my lost little lambs!**

**...I know. I quoted Ayame from "Fruits Basket". I'm so uncreative.**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

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><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 24

It had been an hour since they left Port Royal, and Kyrie was wishing that she hadn't come along on this venture. When she wasn't trying her hardest not to stare at the water as they sailed, she was trying her hardest not to punch Jack in the face.

"_Why does this stuff always happen to me?" _she thought in exasperation. The entire time that she was on the ship, Jack had been constantly flirting with her. Thankfully, now he was at the wheel, and was as far away from her as he could be.

"Why are you so fixated on that compass?" Will asked him when he noticed at Jack was staring at a compass.

"It'll be she that leads us to Isla de Muerta…where Barbossa's headed. Savvy?" he answered. Sora stared at him curiously.

"How do you know?" he asked. Jack flipped the compass shut and tucked it away, before answering him.

"Ah, lad… He and I once had our eyes on a treasure…Aztec gold. 'Twas hidden on the Isla de Muerta. But he turned traitor and stole my ship." He explained.

"So he's after the treasure, then." Sora decided. But Jack quickly shook his head in disagreement.

"Treasure's already his. So's the curse upon it. I've no desire for such treacherous spoils. But I will have back what's mine… the Black Pearl." He stated. Everyone nodded as they went back to whatever it was that they were doing, all except for Goofy, who was staring at Kyrie worriedly. The girl had hardly moved from her spot by the mast since they boarded the ship, and when she did move, she stayed as far away from the sides and bow as possible.

"Gawrsh Kyrie, are ya sure you're alright? You can stay below if you want." he asked as he knelt beside her. She looked up at him for a few long moments before nodding, she could use some peace and quiet. Standing up, she headed below deck, where there was a room that she could stay in. Closing the door, she quickly locked it and sat on a hammock, listening to the soft creaks the ship rocked back and forth.

"_I don't like this…being afraid of the water. I don't even know why I'm afraid, I just am. Was I always like this, even when I was younger? I wish I knew…" _she thought as she curled up on the hammock. But out of nowhere, a dark corridor appeared in the center of the room, making her jump as she summoned a keyblade.

"_Is it Demyx? Axel? Maybe it's Xigbar." _she thought immediately. But when a familiar red spike appeared, she relaxed and dispelled her keyblade.

"_It's just Axel." _she thought with a sigh as he walked out, giving her a smile.

"Man, and here I thought I'd never find you. Do you know how many places I've been to just because I was looking for you?" he joked. She smiled and giggled silently as he walked over, taking a seat next to her on the small hammock.

"So, how's your little adventure coming along? Having fun?" he asked, giving her one of his famous smirks. She grinned at him and nodded a little, truth be told, she was having fun going on this adventure with Sora, Donald, and Goofy. All was quiet for a few moments before Kyrie pulled out her notebook and began to write.

**Axel, why are you here? **

"What, can't I visit every now and again? Or do you like hanging around with your new buds now instead of me?" he asked harshly, his eyes narrowing slightly. She felt a sharp pang inside her chest and her eyes heat up, but she quickly wrote more.

**Axel, why would you say something like that? You're my best friend, and you'll always be my best friend! You and Roxas, we're friends forever. No matter what.**

He winced when he saw the pained look in her eyes, and immediately regretted his harsh words. Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, he pulled her close, and rested his head on top of hers.

"Kyrie, I'm sorry. I didn't mean the words I said, I was just…in a touchy mood. Life in the organization sucks now, and lately, they've all been getting on my nerves. Got it memorized?" he explained. She nodded, her cheeks tinted pink as she felt the little butterflies in her stomach again. The two were silent again for a few minutes, just listening to the creaking of the ship, before he spoke again.

"So… why aren't you up on the deck with the others? Get seasick?" he asked. Sure, he didn't know exactly where he was, but he could tell just from his surroundings that he was inside a ship. She quickly shook her head, pulling back only to write as he watched her closely.

**No, I'm down here because…well…because I'm too scared to be up there. The ocean…it frightens me.**

At this, he chuckled a little.

"Seriously? You're scared of the water?" he joked. But the second he looked in her eyes, he stopped. She looked serious, and he knew right away that he was in the wrong.

"Oh. …So why are you scared, of the water I mean." he asked. She was still for a few moments, before she began writing again.

**Well…you know that time you came and visited me in the Land of Dragons? The dream I had? I think it's because of the dream that I'm so scared. The dream was about my past, and I had somehow fallen into the water and just kept sinking. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't swim, all I could do was watch the surface of the water as I sank deeper and deeper…it was terrifying.**

He was silent as he read her words, taking note of how her hand shook as she wrote certain parts. He glared at the notebook in front of him, he hated it when she was afraid. He couldn't feel what she felt, so he couldn't exactly see things the way she saw them. But he did have a heart once, so he could remember what it was like to be afraid.

Holding her close, he slowly began stroking her hair from the top of her head to where it ended at her lower back.

"It's okay, Kyrie. There's nothing to be afraid of. As long as I'm around, you've got nothing to be afraid of. Got it memorized?" he whispered soothingly. She smiled at this and closed her eyes, finding solace in his embrace.

"_Thank you, Axel." _she thought as she buried her face into his chest. The two stayed like that for some time, until Axel spoke up.

"So what exactly were you guys up to since I saw you last?" he asked, making her giggle silently before she began to write, recounting all of the events that had occurred up until Port Royal, making Axel laugh at certain parts.

"So Demyx actually stole something? Man, that's hilarious! And here I thought he was lazy." he commented, making Kyrie roll her eyes before she continued.

**Actually, I kind of thought the same thing. I hate being mean to Demyx, but sometimes I don't think he should be in the organization. Then again, I shouldn't be in the organization either, so I sympathize with him.**

Axel nodded as he read her words.

"You're right, in both ways. The organization is too dangerous, people can get hurt. You can get hurt." he spoke, wincing when he mentioned her safety. She stared at him curiously, why did he wince when he said that? She looked down at her notebook and began to write again.

**Axel…are you worried? About me?**

He was silent, before looking away, his cheeks heating up.

"…Y-yeah. I am worried. If something were to happen to you…I don't know what I'd do. Probably go on a rampage and wind up getting myself turned into a dusk, or get destroyed. Whichever came first." she stared at him with wide eyes as he said this, her cheeks heating up.

"_Axel…" _she thought as she reached up, placing her hand against his cheek and making him turn to look at her. She had no idea what possessed her to do this, but she found herself lost in his deep emerald irises. He stared back, confused but at the same time, relaxing to her touch as he leaned in to her hand. They stared at each other for an immeasurable amount of time, leaning steadily closer, before a loud ruckus overhead caused them to jump back.

"Donald, watch it!" they heard someone shout. Kyrie silently laughed, leave it to them to make a mess. Axel rolled his eyes before he looked at her.

"Are they always this loud?" he asked, annoyed. She nodded and he sighed.

"How you can stand them, I'll never know. I'd better go before someone comes down here and finds me." standing up, he opened a portal and looked back at her.

"You go above deck, and I'll see if I can come back while they're sleeping. Okay?" he instructed. She nodded before walking over to the door, stopping to watch as he retreated into the corridor before heading to the deck. Once she got there, she could see Donald, Goofy, Sora, and Will moving around.

"Land ho!" Sora shouted as he ran over to the side of the ship, pointing. She stayed as far away from the side of the ship as possible, but could see the island he was pointing to. It looked like it was mostly rock, with hardly any plant life. It looked…dead.

"_This must be Isla de Muerta. …Definitely lives up to its name." _she thought as she stared at the lone island. Jack nodded from his spot behind the wheel.

"That's her all right. Now, time to go and save the young damsel in distress." Jack spoke as he turned the wheel, steering the ship towards Isla de Muerta. Kyrie watched from where she stood as the island got closer and closer, before the ship finally stopped and the gangplank was dropped. Jack and Will walked over to the gangplank with Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Kyrie following close behind, before the two men stopped and looked at them.

"You lads and lass wait here. Young Turner and I will rescue the lady." Jack spoke as he looked them over, making the four look at each other in confusion.

"Hey! What about us?" Sora asked, angry at the thought of being left behind. The pirate smirked, making Kyrie raise her eyebrow at him in confusion. What exactly was he planning?

"You're to guard the ship, o' course. It's a task given only to the bravest of pirates." He explained, making Kyrie scowl.

"_Now that's the biggest lie that I have ever heard! Why in the world would he make us stay behind?" _she thought sourly as she placed her hands on her hips, tapping her left foot as she stared at the two men. Sora sighed as he shrugged his shoulders.

"All right…" he said reluctantly. Donald and Goofy looked at him in confusion, while Kyrie looked away. Sora was gullible, but obviously Jack had lied to the three for some odd reason. Maybe Jack was protecting them, keeping them from the dangers that lay within.

"Guard her well!" he called as he and Will rushed away, probably to get to Elizabeth as soon as possible to save her from the pirates. The four stood there in silence for about ten minutes before Sora groaned.

"I think he was trying to fast-talk us…" he groaned. Kyrie rolled her eyes at this.

"_Oh Sora, you sweet, naïve thing. You'd fall for just about anything." _she thought, trying to hide her smile with her hand. Donald nodded as he crossed his arms, stomping his foot in frustration.

"And you fell for it." He griped as he stomped his foot. Sora looked over to where Jack and Will had gone, a worried look on his face as he crossed his arms.

"What's keeping those two?" he asked, his voice a little shaky. Kyrie nodded as she looked too, now she was starting to get worried.

"They sure are taking their time…" Goofy added as he started to pace. The group nodded before Sora gasped.

"If Pete's hanging around; there must be Heartless here, too. And Jack and Will aren't used to fighting Heartless…Let's go see." He explained. At this, Kyrie nodded. Against the pirates, they would be okay. But against the heartless…she shuddered at the thought.

"_Against the heartless, those two would be toast. But then again, being outnumbered by pirates isn't exactly pleasant either." _she thought as the group walked down the gangplank, weapons drawn in case heartless or pirates came their way. Just as they reached the cave entrance, however, they spotted Will and an unknown woman with him as the two ran, him gripping her arm and holding her close as they did so. They stopped in front of the four, panting and out of breath as they did so.

"Quick, they're after us!" Will exclaimed. Behind them they could hear the sounds of the approaching pirates, making Sora and the others jump in front of them.

"_But where's Jack?" _Kyrie thought as she looked around, there was no sign of the man in sight.

"We'll hold them off! Give us a sign when the ship's ready to sail!" Sora ordered as he brandished his keyblade. The man nodded as he held the woman, who she assumed was Elizabeth, protectively.

"Right! We'll light a signal flare!" he answered. With that the two ran off, leaving the four of them to defend the path against a band of bloodthirsty bilge rats. Kyrie smirked lightly, twirling the keyblades in her hands as she prepared to fight.

"_This is gonna be a tough one." _she thought grimly. Within seconds, the band was in sight as they raised their swords, axes, and other weapons high in the air.

"Hey, it's those cullies from Port Royal!"

"A bunch of kids and a girl, pathetic!"

"They're no match for us!"

"Why those-" Sora growled as he rushed in, knocking one pirate off his feet just as the man raised his sword to cut him down. Kyrie nodded as she ran in, using her keyblades to either sweep them off their feet, destroy them, or send them flying into the air.

"_Now who's the girl, you scum!" _she thought as she sent a man flying, hearing him scream as she did so. But a sound behind her made her pause, and within a second, her shield was up just as a pair of axes came down, stopping them in their tracks. The man wielding them looked at her in confusion.

"What in the seven hells is this magic?" he exclaimed, clearly caught off guard by the bubble-like shield. Kyrie simply gave him a sweet smile, before using a keyblade to take him down. She smirked as she continued to fight them off, before she could hear Sora call out.

"The signal!" he shouted, making Donald and Goofy run to his side while Kyrie hung back, making sure the pirates were as far away from them as possible. But Sora ran in, not wanting to leave the girl to fend for herself.

"Kyrie, c'mon!" he cried as he grabbed her arm, dragging her with him as they retreated back to the ship. Looking behind her, she could see the pirates coming and as soon as they crossed the gangplank, they pulled it back and were off.

"Nyah nyah!" Sora called as he made a face, a string of curses and profanities following that from the pirates on the rocky shore. Kyrie giggled silently at this, but deep down, was terrified for Jack.

"_Where is he? Why did we leave him behind?" _she thought as she turned and marched over to Will, stopping in front of him and his companion with her arms crossed. Sora walked over at well, with Donald and Goofy right behind him.

"Where's Jack?" he asked, looking at Will. The man scratched the back of his head, silent for a moment, before speaking.

"Well…" he started as he told his tale. The four listened intently as he recounted what had happened inside Isla de Muerta, and by the end of the story, they were staring at him in shock.

"I had to. Jack's no fairy-tale pirate. The real ones aren't to be trusted." He explained. Sora looked away sadly and nodded, walking over to the bow of the ship to keep watch. Goofy followed right after him, and Donald took his turn at the wheel. Will and Elizabeth disappeared below deck, leaving Kyrie alone where she stood.

"_I don't care about his title, how could you do that to Jack, Will? He risked himself to save Elizabeth, and you turn traitor on him?" _she thought angrily as she clenched her fists. Looking one last time at the disappearing island behind them, she headed below deck.

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><p><strong>Okay, so I definitely know some writers who HAVE written KH stories have had Axel appear in Port Royal. Originally, I didn't want to go this route but I couldn't fit him anywhere else between Agrabah, Halloween Town, and the Pride Lands. So, I just stuck with Port Royal, because it's more...Organization XIII related than those three worlds. (because out of the group, Port Royal has a member appear instead of being mentioned)<strong>

**So enjoy this chapter, and again, I apologize for the short HIATUS.**

**Read and Review!**


	25. Fight on the Interceptor

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

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><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 25

Kyrie was silent as she walked below deck, heading to the room where she had talked with Axel. Walking in, she was surprised to see Axel as he lay on the hammock, rocking it back and forth with his foot. He looked up as she walk in, noticing the aggravation in her eyes.

"Hey, welcome back. Is something wrong?" he asked in concern as he sat up, allowing her to sit next to him. She was still for a few short moments, before nodding.

"Wanna talk about it?" he asked. She nodded again, as she pulled out her notebook. He was silent as she wrote, recounting all of the events from when she went to the deck to what had happened just minutes ago.

**But how could he do that to Jack? The man risked his life to help him find Elizabeth, only to be backstabbed and left for dead. Why, Axel? Why are people like this, willing to betray each other to save their own skin?**

Axel heaved a sigh as he placed a hand on her head, making her look at him.

"Kyrie, that's just how life is. People will betray you for their own selfishness, and sometimes you'll betray others too. I know I had to betray a few people in the past, and I've had people stab me in the back too. There's nothing you can do." he explained, remembering how he betrayed his fellow members at Castle Oblivion. But he would never tell her that, he would take that to his grave.

She nodded sadly and heaved a sigh, before leaning into him. The action made him blush, but he didn't push her away. He just wrapped his arm around her shoulders like he usually did, because of their significant height differences, and held her close.

"But you don't have to be like that. Just be yourself, and you'll fine. 'Sides, I wouldn't want it any other way." she blushed at his words, and nodded. Suddenly, they heard a loud bang, and the ship rocked harshly, throwing Kyrie forward as she dropped her belongings. Axel quickly wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back, keeping her from injuring herself.

"Pirates!" they heard someone cry. Kyrie quickly got to her feet and ran to the door, before a hand around her wrist stopped her.

"Kyrie, don't go out there! It's too dangerous!" he pleaded. But she quickly shook her head, she couldn't leave Sora and the others to fend for themselves. Not only had she made a promise, but the three grew on her. Pulling her wrist away, she ran up to the deck, surprised to see that the whole ship was in chaos.

"Kyrie, duck!" Sora cried as he ran forward, throwing both of them to the floor just as a cannonball flew over their heads. She looked at him thankfully before the two got to their feet. They heard a small clink and looked down, to see the cursed medallion laying on the floor. He leaned down and picked it up, glaring at the Black Pearl before looking at the others.

"What're we gonna do?"

"We're just gonna have to fight!" Sora exclaimed, holding the medallion tightly in his hand as he summoned his keyblade in the other. The others nodded as they got their weapons ready, watching as pirates swung over from the pearl onto the Interceptor. Kyrie summoned her keyblades and prepared herself for the onslaught.

"There's the medallion! Get it!" one of them shouted as they got on board, they eyes landing on the trinket in Sora's hand. Kyrie was in front of the boy in seconds, sending one of them reeling back with a blow to the face.

"_Man, this is gonna get ugly-" _she thought as she sent another pirate overboard, hearing him scream before he hit the water. With this the fight began, with Will and Goofy manning the cannons while Sora, Donald, and Kyrie fended off the horde of bloodthirsty hooligans.

"Ah!" Sora cried as he was thrown against the mast, the medallion flying out of his hand as he did so. A pirate reached down and grabbed it, before getting electrocuted by Donald's thunder spell.

"Got it!" he cried as he grabbed it. Running to get out of the fray, he didn't see the foot that was in front of him before he tripped, the medallion landing on the floor beside him.

"I'll take this." the man snickered at he took it. But Kyrie was there in a heartbeat, slicing him in half with her Lost Memory keyblade. The trinket landed on her shirt and got tangled in her pendant, making her blush when she realized all undead eyes were now on her as their target.

"_Oh. Crap." _was her only thoughts as she began running, trying to stay as far away from the horde as possible.

"Get 'er!"

"The wench has the medallion!"

"Shoot her!"

Kyrie quickly turned, summoning her shield of light just as a few rounds were shot off, protecting her against the bullets.

"_Ha, take that!" _she thought as she ran back, taking them out with her keyblades with a series of strokes and uppercuts. Soon, all of the pirates were off the ship as smoke rose from the Black Pearl.

"Hooray!" Donald exclaimed as he began jumping up and down. Sora walked over and untangled the trinket from Kyrie's pendant, before holding it in his hand.

"We beat the pirates!" Sora said proudly. But a dark voice chuckled from behind them, making them jump.

"Well, did you now, laddie?" Turning, they spotted Barbossa and his men as they surrounded them, with Jack tied up in the center of the mass. Sora gasped.

"Jack!" he cried. The captain gave an uneasy chuckle as the pirates turned their attention on to him. But the ruthless captain paid no mind to his minions. Instead, he had his eyes on the medallion in Sora's hand.

"Now then, I'll be having back that medallion…Unless it's more important than their lives?" he spoke, indicating Elizabeth and Jack. From the corner of her eye, Kyrie spotted Will as he climbed up to the edge of the ship, holding tightly to some rope with a gun in hand.

"_Will? What're-" _Kyrie thought as she watched, but at that moment, he began talking.

"Barbossa! She goes free!" he exclaimed as he aimed the pistol at the captain. The group stared at him in shock while he laughed.

"Go ahead boy…shoot! We can't die." Barbossa explained. But the determination in the man's eyes didn't falter.

"You can't…but I can!" without hesitation, he whipped the gun around until it was pointed at his temple, making the four jump at his recklessness.

"_Will, no!" _Kyrie thought as she watched, why in the world would he try to kill himself? But he simply continued, unfazed at the gun he himself pointed at his head.

"My name is Will Turner! My father was Bootstrap Bill Turner! His blood runs in my veins!" the large band gasped at this. "On my word, do as I say, or I'll pull this trigger and be lost to Davy Jones' Locker." He finished. The captain was silent for a moment, before nodding.

"Name your terms…Mr. Turner." Barbossa spoke grudgingly. Will nodded as he looked over to the small group.

"Release Elizabeth…and Sora, and Donald, and Goofy, and Kyrie too!" he demanded. The captain was silent for a moment. "We'll gladly set them free. But unfortunately, the lass with the white hair we'll be taking along with us. After all, our new associate wants her for his own affairs."

"I said she goes free! You are not to harm any of them!"

Kyrie looked over to the medallion in Sora's hand as the two argued, she couldn't let those scum get the medallion.

"_But what can I do? Where can I-" _she looked over to the side of the deck, an idea popping into her head. _"That's it! I can…"_

"Anything else?" Barbossa sighed, apparently giving in to Will's demands. The man shook his head. "Leave, now!"

"Agreed. Leave we shall…but the Heartless stay!" they heard a familiar maniacal laughter and turned, just to see Pete hit Will over the head with an oar. Without a moments hesitation, Kyrie reached out and snatched the medallion out of Sora's hand, running to the bow of the ship. Sora stared at her as she ran, confused and alarmed at what she was doing.

"Kyrie! What are you-" he cried as she ran to the deck. Barbossa's eyes widened when he realized what exactly the girl had planned.

"Stop that wench!"

Just as Kyrie raised her arm to throw the trinket overboard, a gunshot rang out and she felt something pierce her side. Her eyes widened as she dropped the medallion, making it land on the floor of the deck with a small clink. Falling forward, her legs hit the side of the ship and she fell over, going overboard.

"Kyrie!"

"No!"

She fell into the water with a loud splash, back-first, and watched as Sora, Donald, and Goofy ran over, looking down at her with wide eyes. She began to sink further and further away from the surface, her limbs paralyzed and unable to move.

"_This is…just like my dream. I…can't swim. I…can't breathe…" _she thought as she sank, watching a red stream flow from the wound to her side towards the surface. A muffled sound of another splash brought her back from her thoughts, and she could barely make out what it was. A black and red shape swam at her, but she slowly closed her eyes as she began to lose consciousness.

"_I guess…this is it…" _and she allowed the darkness to take her.

…

…

"Kyrie!"

"…_Who…?"_

"Kyrie, wake up! Damn!"

She felt herself slowly regaining consciousness, was she dead?

"_If I did die…oh Axel! Demyx and Xigbar, Sora, Donald, and Goofy… This'll kill them, when they find out that I'm dead." _she thought sadly, berating herself for her reckless actions. But she felt something press against her chest, trying to force something out.

"C'mon Kyrie, don't die on me! Wake up!" finally finding the strength to open her eyes, she was surprised to see red and black. Her vision cleared and she blinked in confusion.

"_Axel? What-" _she thought as she stared. Indeed, it was the pyro as he kneeled over her, his hair wet and tamed as water drenched his uniform. Kyrie looked down at herself and wasn't surprised that she was wet as well, but something else caught her eye. Her wound was gone!

"Oh man…you're okay." Axel sighed as he relaxed, relieved that she was finally awake. She looked at him in confusion before looking around for her backpack, but it wasn't anywhere near her. Then she took notice of their surroundings. It was a small, tropical island, with a large expanse of beach and sand. Currently, they were on the beach.

"Your backpack's still on the ship. Remember? You dropped it when they started attacking." Axel explained when he caught her confusion. She nodded before grasping his hand and placing it against her side, where she knew a bullet had passed through.

"Oh, that. Once we got to dry land, I used cure on it. Good thing there was this small island nearby when those guys started attacking, huh?" he continued. She nodded and smiled before looking down at her lap, not sure what to say.

"_Axel risked his life to save mine…" _she thought as she looked down at her lap. A hand on her shoulder made her look up into Axel's emerald irises as he stared at her. Without thinking, he pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her tightly.

"You're so reckless…I thought I- …I thought that I had…lost you. When you got shot and fell into the water, I ran to the back of the ship and dove in after you. But you're okay…you're okay…" he whispered furiously as he held her close, not daring to let her go. When he saw her fall into the water from where he was hiding nearby, he actually felt afraid and devastated for that one fateful moment. When Xemnas and Saix attacked her back at the World of Never Was, he was the same then, but he didn't actually witness her attack. But when he watched as she got shot and plummeted into the water…it was ten times worse. Kyrie stared at him with wide eyes, not sure exactly why he was acting as he did.

"_Axel…?" _she thought as she stared. She could feel his body tremble slightly, and reached up to stroke his hair, trying to get it back into its usual spiky shape. She heard him chuckle softly from where his head was buried in her shoulder.

"Silly." he said simply. She slowly allowed her eyes to close, and leaned into his embrace, sighing in happiness. The strange feeling was back, the butterflies in her stomach, her hands sweaty and clammy, but she didn't care. Nothing at the moment seemed to matter anymore, when she was with him. But suddenly, her pendant started to glow, causing him to gasp in pain and pull back.

"What the-" he gasped as a light shot out of it and pierced the sky, creating a small pillar of light. The two stared at her pendant in amazement, before hearing the distant sounds of someone shouting. Turning, they spotted the Interceptor in the distance as it made its way towards the island. Probably attracted to the light her pendant created. Axel sighed, getting to his feet and helping her up as well.

"I better get going. I'll try and catch up to you later, okay?" he grunted, clearly not pleased at the appearance of the ship. She nodded silently and turned to him, wrapping her arms around his waist as she gave him one last hug. He gladly returned it, before opening a corridor and stepping through. She stood there for a few moments, before running towards the water.

Getting knee deep into the water, she began waving her arms, trying to get their attention. As the ship sailed closer, she could clearly see Sora, Donald, Goofy, Jack, and Elizabeth as they leaned over the side of the ship, staring at her in shock.

"Kyrie!"

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><p><strong>Yep. Another action-packed chapter! But then again...Port Royal is famous for action, no? And I bet all of you could guess who Axel was talking about when he said "betrayed". ...If you haven't, I suggest playing Chain of Memories and 3582 days.**

**Please read and review!**


	26. Jack vs Barbossa

**Here we go! It's the big "Jack vs. Barbossa" fight that y'all have been waiting for!**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

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><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 26

Kyrie smiled as she walked onto the ship, before being literally tackled by Sora, Donald, and Goofy.

"Kyrie, you're alive!" Donald exclaimed as they hugged the living daylights out of her. She could feel the breath being squeezed out of her and struggled, trying to get out of their death grip.

"We thought you were gone forever!" Goofy added. Thankfully, they finally released her, sending her reeling back. Elizabeth and Jack came over as well, looking at her in relief.

"Ye are a very lucky lass. No man would live to tell the tale if he had been shot the same way ye were." Jack spoke as he looked her over, surprised to not see a bullet wound or any sign of blood loss. She smiled as she scratched the back of her head, before realizing that she still didn't have her backpack.

"_That's right, where's my backpack?" _she thought as she looked around. Sora, not realizing that she was looking for something, continued.

"Yeah Kyrie, don't ever do something like that again! We thought you got killed!" he exclaimed. But she was paying no attention to him, she was too focused on finding her backpack. Elizabeth noticed the way the girl in front of her was acting, and immediately ran back into the captain's stateroom. Minutes later, she came back out, silver backpack in hand.

"Is this what you were looking for? You left it behind below deck." she spoke as she showed the girl the bag. Kyrie brightened instantly and took it, thanking the woman before pulling out her pen and notebook.

**Sorry for scaring you guys, but I couldn't let Barbossa get what he wanted! Throwing it overboard seemed like a pretty good way of getting rid of the medallion.**

"Aye, it would have, if you had done it when he wasn't looking. Ye must always wait for the most opportune moment." Jack explained. She nodded before Sora stared at her, arms crossed.

"So how're you okay? Even Jack said that there was no way you could've survived, being shot and all." he asked. She was silent, how was she going to explain this?

"_Wait, maybe this is the perfect opportunity to show them that some of the organization members aren't bad! Perfect!" _she quickly began writing, trying to make it sound as convincing as possible.

**Someone saved me. He managed to get me out of the water and healed my wounds using a cure spell. He had red, spiky hair and was wearing a black cloak.**

"Black cloak? Then he must've been with the organization!" Sora stated. She nodded before Donald spoke up.

"But why would he save you? It doesn't make any sense!" he proclaimed in disbelief. She shrugged her shoulders, playing along, before continuing.

**Maybe he was really a good guy, just misunderstood? Not all of them could be bad, if he was anything to go by.**

"Maybe…so what was his name?" Sora asked. She smiled.

**Axel. His name was Axel.**

-Later-

"There she is, Isla de Muerta. Now I think it's about time we settle things, and rescue young Turner of course." Jack spoke as they stared ahead at the rocky island. Once they got there, the gangplank was lowered and Jack, Sora, Donald, and Goofy walked off, before he turned to the two women.

"You two stay with the ship!" he ordered. Kyrie quickly placed her hands on her hips in aggravation, there was no way she was going to miss out on kicking pirate and heartless ass just because of what happened before. Elizabeth shook her head at the captain, crossing her arms.

"I'll do no such thing! Will could die in there." She protested. Kyrie nodded in agreement before the man sighed.

"Dear William is fine. Trust me." He spoke. But she quickly shook her head.

"I am not a fool, Jack." She scolded. Sora quickly got between the two to prevent further argument.

"Then trust me instead!" he insisted, trying to calm things down. After a moment, the woman sighed and gave in.

"Sora, Donald, Goofy… bring Will back safely!" she begged. The three nodded and ran into the cave, Jack leading the way. The two girls stood there for a moment, before Kyrie followed after them.

"Ah, wait! You'll-" but whatever Elizabeth was going to say next was drowned out by the sounds of fighting in the cave, prompting Kyrie to run faster as she summoned both keyblades. Rushing in, she spotted them surrounded by a group mixed of pirates and heartless, and immediately took out the nearest heartless.

"Lass, what in the world are ye doing here? I thought I-" Jack started, but stopped when she got between him and a pirate who was just about to run him through, bringing up her shield to deflect the pirate's attack. The man took this opportunity to take out his would-be killer. He looked at her for a moment, before smirking.

"Thank ye, lass. I guess I'll let this one slide, for now. But don't make this a habit, okay?" he smirked before going back to fighting. Kyrie smiled and giggled silently before they continued through the caves, taking out pirates and heartless as they did so. As they got closer to where the cave ended, they could hear the cheers of the pirates.

"_This is it." _Kyrie thought as she clutched her keyblades tightly, slightly nervous about taking on the merciless captain. Taking a deep breath, she followed after Sora as he, Donald, Goofy, and Jack ran into a cave that was covered in gold. Barbossa and Will were standing in front of a chest that was atop a ledge, as the band of bilge rats surrounded it.

"Ahoy! Treasure, mateys!" Sora cried as he ran in. Kyrie almost bust a gut laughing, the look on Barbossa's face was priceless. He looked horrified at their appearance, and he looked like he was seeing a ghost when he caught sight of her amongst the group.

"Not possible." He gasped as he stared at the group. Donald smirked as he took a step forward, a hand on his chest.

"Not probable! We're alive and we're pirates!" he announced. Kyrie stared at him, eyebrow raised. Did something happen after she fell into the water?

"_Wait, when did we become pirates?" _she thought as she stared at them in confusion. Jack quickly took a step forward, sticking his chest out in a manly fashion.

"Captain Jack Sparrow!" he declared. Sora was up next as he struck a pose.

"Sora!" Donald followed after the boy, striking a pose as well.

"Donald Duck!" Goofy followed after his two companions, taking Kyrie's wrist as he went.

"Goofy and Kyrie, too!" he called and she deadpanned, why did they always involve her in their crazy shenanigans? Barbossa rolled his eyes at the group as he pointed at them.

"So you want to play pirate? Best save the playacting for the nursery. After them!" within seconds, a horde of pirates were after them, making the five run back towards the moonlight so they could take out their foes easily. Sora and Kyrie tag teamed, him grabbing one of her wrists as he spun her, using her feet to kick the pirates back before he let go, sending her flying on top of a pirate who was about to skewer Donald.

As soon as all of the pirates were gone, Sora smirked. "No more playacting now!" he declared, probably wanting to rub this into Barbossa's face. Will quickly joined them, a look of relief on his face.

"Thank you, Sora!" Will said gratefully. The boy nodded before Goofy began to look around, a look of concern on his face.

"Uh, where's Jack?" he asked. The others looked around before spotting the man locked in combat with Barbossa, the two fighting to make sure the other was left for dead. The group watched the spectacle with wide eyes, Sora rooting for Jack as they did so.

"Jack! Get him!" he cheered, pumping his fist into the air. The man looked over, unaware that he had an audience.

"Huh?" he asked, taking his attention off of Barbossa. But that proved to be a fatal mistake. As if time was slowing down, Kyrie watched as Barbossa pulled his blade back, aiming it straight at Jack's chest. Her eyes widened.

"_Jack! Look out-" _she thought as she pointed, but it was too late. With a thrust, Barbossa plunged his sword into Jack's chest, making the man gasp as he stared at the other man's face in shock. Sora gasped, his eyes widening at the scene in front of him.

"Jack!" he cried, fearing the worst for the man. Kyrie immediately covered her eyes, trying not to look.

"_No…Jack…" _she thought, slumping her shoulders. She could hear the merciless captain chuckle in victory. "You're a fool, Jack Sparrow." He chuckled. All was silent for a few moments except for the sound of shaky footsteps, before the entire room gasped.

"Well that's interesting." she heard Jack say, making her uncover her eyes and gasp at what she was witnessing. Jack was standing in the moonlight, his appearance completely changed to that of a cursed pirate. He held up a hand, a gold medallion between his knuckles.

"I couldn't resist mate." He smirked. Everyone stared at him in shock, like the gravity of his words hadn't exactly hit them yet.

"Jack…" Will murmured in awe. Barbossa simply growled, whipping his head around. "Show yourself, Pete! The tide has changed." he exclaimed. Within seconds, a familiar figure lumbered into view, with his arms crossed.

"See? I told ya you'd be needin' ol' Pete!" he spoke, before snapping his fingers. A lizard-like heartless appeared at his side, and within seconds, the cave was enveloped in darkness. Kyrie blinked, unable to see a thing.

"_Damn…how can we see in this darkness?" _she thought as she looked around. She heard a gunshot go off, and immediately summoned her shield to protect both herself and her companions. What she didn't expect, was that the shield created a light source.

The cave lit up with a dull, white glow that reflected from the water to the cave walls. She could see Sora, Donald, Goofy, Jack, and Will as they stood inside her shield, and could spot Barbossa a few feet away, his heartless at his side.

"Eh?" he gasped, not anticipating the extra light source. Jack looked at her, smirking.

"Well done, lass. Keep that up 'til we're finished with the green lizard. Then ye can join us with taking down Barbossa." Jack ordered. Kyrie nodded in understanding and did as told as Sora, Donald, and Goofy went after the heartless, while Jack kept the captain busy.

"There it is!" Sora cried as he pointed to the heartless, which Donald took care of easily with two thunder spells and a blizzard spell. Kyrie gave a relieved sigh as she relinquished her shield, happy to finally be back in combat.

"Don't think ye'll be getting out alive just because ye've defeated the heartless!" Barbossa taunted as he brought his sword down on Jack's. The man grunted as he pushed the captain back, glaring at him as he did so.

"Ye forget, Barbossa. Your immortality is no match for their strange magic, and my wits." Jack shot back. Kyrie immediately ran in, using her keyblades to force Barbossa away from Jack, delivering a good double swing to his side as she did so. Sora was right after her, throwing the captain into the air as he brought his keyblade down on the man's midsection. The captain coughed, slamming into the ground with a heavy thud before he got back to his feet, panting heavily. Jack had his sword drawn, showing who was the victor. Pete quickly backed off and ran away, shaking his fist as he did so. But everyone completely ignored him as they stared at Jack and Barbossa, anticipating the next move.

"Right! Care to surrender, Barbossa?" Jack asked the man. But the bloodthirsty man didn't even seem phased as he held his sword up, showing no signs of backing down or running. Jack simply sighed and rolled his eyes, tossing away his sword as he did so.

"Well, enough of this, then…" he spoke as he pulled out his pistol. Kyrie raised her eyebrow at the man, not understanding why he had pulled out his pistol in the first place.

"What say you we call it…a draw?" he spoke before throwing the medallion, pulling the trigger as he did so. All was silent as the gunshot echoed, before the man began to laugh.

"Jack, how many times do I have to tell ya, I can't die." He laughed. Another voice called out, startling everyone.

"Laugh while you can, Barbossa!" Will shouted as he held his fist over the chest. The captain turned to him in surprise as he unclenched his fist, dropping two bloody, gold medallions into the chest. The pirate suddenly jerked, clenching his hand over his chest as he gasped in pain. Blood began to bubble from under his palm, making Sora and the others look away in repulsion.

"I feel… cold." And with that, his eyes glazed over and he fell, flat on his back on the cave floor. Kyrie flinched and covered her eyes, she had never seen a human die before. She had seen Nobodies and Heartless disappear, but never had she seen a human being, someone with a heart like her, die. All was silent before Jack spoke up, breaking the silence.

"Let's say we get out of here and head for home, savvy?"

-A few minutes later-

"What now, Jack?" Will asked as the group stopped outside of the cave, near the Black Pearl. Jack turned to the man, a smirk on his face.

"Whatever I want, now that the Pearl is mine again." He answered smugly, causing the group to look at the ship as it floated in the water. Will nodded in understanding, giving the man a small smile.

"That she is. Thank you, Jack." He spoke as he reached out, causing Jack to flinch back as he covered his head. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Kyrie raised their eyebrows at the action, just what had Will done to make Jack afraid of his touch? After a moment, Jack straightened up, after sensing that Will meant no ill will.

"I didn't want ye hittin' me again, mate." He explained. Will chuckled and nodded while the others laughed. Sora turned to the captain, a sad smile on his face as he held his hand out.

"Hey, Jack… good luck." Sora spoke. Jack stared at his hand strangely for a moment, before waving his hands in an awkward manner. He never did do handshakes, so Sora quickly pulled his hand back and chuckled softly.

"And remember to be good!" Donald said sternly, causing Kyrie to silently giggle at his words. Telling a pirate to be good was like telling a five-year-old not to take a cookie from the cookie jar. Impossible.

"I'm off." Jack spoke as he turned. But in that instant, Elizabeth appeared, a smile on her face.

"Oh thank goodness!" she cried. Jack was about to open his arms when she ran past him, tackling Will with a relieved cry as the two lovebirds embraced. Kyrie smiled fondly at the couple, happy that the two were reunited again.

"Good for them." Sora spoke as he held his arms behind his head. Kyrie nodded eagerly in agreement.

"_But I do feel sorry for Jack. Poor guy…" _she thought as she looked at Jack, who simply sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

"Hey, Sora… how come your face is all red?" she turned at this, and was surprised that Sora's face was as red as a cherry. He gasped, covering his face with his hands as he did so.

"What? It is not red!" he stammered, trying to cover his face. Donald smirked, a teasing smile on his face.

"Aw, I know who you're thinking about." He teased, making Kyrie raise her eyebrow at the duck in confusion.

"_Who is he thinking about? His girlfriend?" _she thought as she stared at them. Suddenly, Jack's compass lit up, causing Sora to summon his keyblade and point it at the keyhole that appeared. Kyrie began to light up again as well, causing her to stare at herself in wonder.

"_Again?" _she thought as Sora locked the keyhole, causing the light to fade from both the compass and her. After that, it was all farewells to the three adults as the four left and returned to the Gummi Ship.

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><p><strong>And so ends their first visit to Port Royal. I bet you all can guess where they're heading next?<strong>

**Read and Review**


	27. Hey, it's Agrabah!

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 27

Everyone sighed as they settled into their seats, Donald taking the controls as the ship took off.

"Okay Donald, so how long until we get to the next world?" Sora asked from where he sat, pulling out a manga to read. Donald looked at the coordinates before looking back at the three.

"Two hours." he answered. Sora and Goofy sighed, and Kyrie groaned internally. This was going to be one of those boring rides.

"Oh, okay. Better get some sleep then." Goofy yawned as he reclined his chair, curling up to go to sleep. As the ship continued on, Kyrie got up and paced a few times, earning confused looks from both Sora and Donald before they went back to whatever they were doing.

"_So bored…" _she thought as she gave a soft sigh. She was about to stand up and pace again, when the book she borrowed from Merlin fell out of the chair. Glancing down at it, she reached down and picked it up before gently placing it in her lap. She stared at it for a moment, before smiling.

"_I might as well read this to past the time, since I borrowed it from Merlin and all…" _with that, she opened the book and was surprised that a lot of the pages were missing. But of what remained, she decided to read.

_**The Princess of Light and the Prince of Darkness.**_

_**Both guardians of the heart of all worlds, and the worlds themselves. The Princess of Light existed long before the Prince of Darkness, and she was the one who created the very first world. This in turn, created the Prince of Darkness himself.**_

_**She gave the inhabitants of that world the gift of the light, but soon they began fighting over it because they loved the light so much. They wanted to keep it for themselves. And so, darkness was born in their hearts. And with the birth of darkness, a malevolent being was born, the Prince of Darkness. His darkness spread, swallowing the light and many people's hearts. It covered everything, and the world disappeared. But small fragments of light survived, in the hearts of children, who did not fight over this wonderful light. With these fragments of light, the children rebuilt the lost world. But the light was still scattered, creating many different worlds that were balanced by both light and darkness.**_

_**The beings decided to put aside their differences, and became the guardians of the heart of all worlds, Kingdom Hearts. The Princess of Light was the essence of the light that was nestled inside Kingdom Hearts, and the Prince of Darkness was vise versa. **_

_**But the princess soon became lonely, and wanted to see for herself what life was like outside of Kingdom hearts. So she created seven pure hearts, in order to bring peace and to be her eyes to watch over the people who lived in those worlds. Those hearts became seven pure maidens who could not be devoured by the darkness. With this, they were dubbed the name "The Seven Princesses of Heart". **_

_**But since darkness now existed in almost every heart, it began to consume the people who lived on those worlds. And in turn, created dark creatures with frightening powers. No name was ever given to these beings, but they were simply called "those without hearts". The princess, sensing the danger these beings posed, decided to create a weapon that would keep both the light and darkness in check, as well as protect those from losing their hearts. **_

_**With her power, she created a blade that would lock and unlock doors, as well as protect both the user and the people he protects from the darkness. She then dubbed the name "Keyblade" to the weapon, knowing that in the wrong hands, it could cause mass destruction.**_

_**The Prince of Darkness, who wanted to rule all worlds, sneered at her weapon and created his own keyblade. But while hers was full of light, his was full of darkness. **_

_**The keyblades chose their first wielders, and the two clashed, fighting for seven days and seven nights. Both wanted to prove that they were stronger than the other, that the light was stronger than the darkness and vice versa.**_

_**At the end of this fight, the keyblades met each other for one last time, and merged, to become the ultimate keyblade. The X-blade. A blade that could summon the heart of all worlds to the wielder at will. **_

"_The… X-blade? Why does it sound so familiar?" _she thought as she read on.

_**But the princess immediately sealed the blade away, knowing that it could mean the end for all worlds should another ever be created. But the keyblade wielders sought for a way to open Kingdom Hearts, the heart of all worlds, and in the end a war erupted between the keyblades of light and darkness. For both sides hoped for a way to recreate this powerful "X-blade". **_

_**In the end, both sides perished, leaving the princess heartbroken at the loss of so many lives and a scarred battlefield where only the lifeless keys remained. This place was then called the "Keyblade Graveyard", in reference to the war that tore the world apart. Strangely, the Prince of Darkness grieved as well, and both decided that Kingdom Hearts must never be opened.**_

_**But one day-**_

"Kyrie, we're here!" Sora shouted, causing her to jump and drop the book, whipping her head around to glare at him.

"_Sora, you almost gave me a coronary!" _she thought as she glared at him, causing him to back up and chuckle nervously.

"Uh…oops? Sorry about that." he chuckled, scratching the back of his head. She simply shook her head and sighed, reaching down and picking up the book as she placed it back on the chair. Turning to him, she nodded and the two followed after Donald and Goofy, who were already off the ship. When they got off, they found themselves in a familiar desert-filled world. Kyrie smiled.

"_Hey, this is Agrabah! I've been here before…" _she thought as she looked around at the familiar surroundings. Donald smiled as he looked around.

"Agrabah! We made it!" he exclaimed happily, probably glad to be back in a familiar place. Sora and Goofy nodded as the group began walking into town, going nowhere in particular.

"Gawrsh, I wonder how Aladdin 'n' Jasmine are doin'?" Goofy mused, placing a finger against his chin. Kyrie stared at them in confusion, they knew Aladdin and Jasmine?

"_Man do these three get around, they must know everybody!" _she thought with a shake of her head, a smile on her lips. Sora nodded in agreement.

"Hey, maybe Riku's with them!" he spoke hopefully. Goofy nodded, before smiling.

"Yeah, and the King!" he added happily. But Donald simply rolled his eyes.

"Keep dreaming, you two." He said sternly, but Sora simply snorted and rolled his eyes. The two began to bicker before Kyrie heard the flapping of wings, turning just as a red parrot with blue tail feathers flapped over. She raised her eyebrow and stopped, causing Goofy to stop and turn as well. The bird began to circle the two of them, causing him to gasp.

"Uh-oh, it's uh…um…" he started, trying to remember the parrot's name. Kyrie looked at him, he knew this bird?

"It's Iago!" he cried, finally remembering the bird's name. Within seconds, Sora and Donald whipped around, weapons drawn as the bird began to panic.

"Wait! You got me all wrong." The bird cried desperately. Kyrie felt bad for the bird, she had no idea why the three had a grudge against him, but he seemed harmless enough.

"You're Iago all right!" Donald pointed out, irritated. The bird quickly shook his head.

"No! I mean, it's not the old me. I turned over a new feather. I'm legit! No more scams. Promise!" he cried. Sora banished the keyblade and crossed his arms, eying the bird warily.

"Bet that's your new scam." He snorted, causing Kyrie to look at him in surprise. Never had she seen Sora so mean towards someone, aside from the enemy. But the bird shook his head immediately.

"You gotta believe me!" Iago exclaimed. But Donald tugged on Sora's arm, turning his back on the bird.

"Sora, let's go!" he ordered. Sora nodded and the two began to walk off, causing the bird to sigh and fly over to the stairs, looking down dejectedly.

"_Oh, that poor bird." _Kyrie thought as she walked over. He looked sincere about turning over a new feather, no pun intended.

"I was stuck in that lamp with Jafar. Remember? Well, I finally escaped. But then some things happened and…" he explained, but Sora cut him off.

"So. Free as a bird, huh?" he asked, not really in the mood with dealing with any of Iago's nonsense.

"Have fun!" Donald called. Kyrie glared at the two before walking over, placing a hand on Iago's head as she tried her best to reassure him. The bird looked at her, but the sad look didn't leave his face. She picked up the bird and cradled him against her chest, feeling nothing but sympathy for him.

Goofy looked over at Kyrie as she cradled Iago, a sympathetic look on her face. Then he noticed the dejected look on Iago's face, and frowned.

"Gawrsh, fellas. He looks pretty sad. Kyrie thinks so, too." He spoke, making the bird perk up and look at him. Kyrie smiled and released the bird as he flew over, landing in Goofy's open palms.

"I wanna apologize to Aladdin and Jasmine. Could you guys maybe put in a good word for me?" he asked. Goofy nodded before turning towards Sora and Donald.

"Sure, we can do that, can't we?" he asked as he turned to them. Sora and Donald raised their eyebrows at him incredulously, as if Goofy had grown another head. All was silent for a few minutes before Iago screamed.

"Watch out!" he cried. The four turned, surprised to see a group of unknown heartless surrounding them, carrying two curved blades in each hand. Kyrie growled silently, summoning her two keyblades.

"_Crap, these guys have two blades." _she thought as a heartless lunged at her, their blades clashing in a furry of sparks. She could hear clashes from multiple sides and ran the heartless in front of her through, before moving on to the next.

A few minutes into the fight, the group found themselves getting tired and worn out, but more heartless just kept appearing.

"They just keep coming!" Sora growled as they four regrouped, back to back as their foes circled them.

"Ah!" Kyrie turned and spotted Iago as he fled from a heartless, knocking over crated and pots on several heartless, knocking them out and creating an opening for the group. They took this opportunity as they ran, Kyrie quickly grabbing Iago and holding him against her chest as they did so.

"This way!" Sora called over his shoulder as they ran into an abandoned building. When they were in the clear, they stopped, taking a few minutes to take a small break. Goofy and Kyrie turned to Sora and Donald, staring at them with pleading eyes.

"Aw, we'd've been goners if Iago hadn't helped us. Ain't that right, fellas?" Goofy spoke, making Kyrie nod as she released Iago from her arms. The boy was silent for a moment before sighing and nodding, giving in to them.

"I guess we owe you one." He sighed, making Iago smile hugely at the turn of events.

"Perfect!" he cried as he flew around, making Kyrie giggle silently as he did so. But Sora quickly stopped him, wagging his finger at him.

"But you'll have to win over Aladdin and Jasmine yourself. Be on your best behavior, got it?" Sora said sternly. Iago nodded, but he was too happy to say much.

"Yeah, I got it." He agreed, looking as if he would do anything to gain their trust. Goofy was silent for a moment as he placed his hand against his chin, lost in thought.

"Where is Aladdin, anyway?" Goofy asked. Everyone was silent as they thought of all the places the young man could be, but within seconds Iago had an idea as he flew over to Goofy and Kyrie, landing on her shoulder as he did so.

"I betcha he's at the palace." Iago spoke, pointing in the direction of the palace. Sora nodded in agreement, before he started for the door.

"Then let's go." he called as he walked out, with Donald, Goofy, and Kyrie right behind him. Iago looked at the girl who's shoulder he was currently sitting on, not sure really of what to make of her. But she did help him get points with Sora, so he had to at least thank her.

"Thanks for the help back there, uh…" he trailed off, what was her name anyways? She turned to him and smiled, before Goofy spoke up.

"This here's Kyrie. She's been travelin' with us for awhile, so she's new. She can't talk either, but she's real nice." Goofy explained. The bird nodded before looking back to her.

"Okay. Thanks, Kyrie." he said gratefully. But the girl's smile simply grew, as she patted him on the head gently. The group continued on through Agrabah's streets, until they reached the palace, where a familiar girl dressed in green stood at the palace doors.

"Jasmine!"

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><p><strong>Yep. We're in Agrabah now.<strong>

**And I bet a lot of you guys are going to kill me for cutting off Kyrie's reading. But don't worry, there's a good explanation for this!**

**...Uh...well, she's going to learn more later so you guys have something to look forward to.**

**Anyways, enjoy and please read and review!**


	28. The Cave of Wonders

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 28

"Jasmine!" Sora called as he and the others approached the dark-haired girl. Iago immediately ducked and hid himself behind Kyrie and Goofy's backs, trying not to be seen by the young woman. Jasmine turned and smiled happily when she spotted them.

"Sora! Donald! Goofy!" she cried when she spotted them. Then she turned her gaze over to Kyrie, and her smile grew.

"Oh, and Kyrie too! I haven't seen you in so long, I hardly recognized you." the girl spoke, making the guys stare between them in confusion.

"Huh? You two know each other?" Sora asked. Both of them nodded before Kyrie pulled out her pen and notebook, jotting something down.

**I met Jasmine a while back, Along with Aladdin and Abu. I was passing through after I began traveling, and we met by chance.**

The boys read her words and nodded before Donald bowed, Sora and Goofy copying him.

"Your Majesty." He spoke. Kyrie gave a small curtsy, making the girl giggle before she spoke.

"I never got a chance to thank you for before. You helped Aladdin defeat that awful Jafar and saved Agrabah." She explained, looking between Sora, Donald, and Goofy. They straightened up before looking around, noticing that Aladdin was nowhere to be found.

"All in a day's work. But uh… it looks like the Heartless are up to no good again. Is there any way we can help you out?" Sora asked. Jasmine quickly shook her head, not wanting to cause them any more trouble than she already did.

"I think we're all right for now." She answered. Goofy nodded, a smile on his face.

"And ya always got Aladdin." he spoke, smiling brightly. But Jasmine quickly looked down, holding her hands together as a small frown graced her features.

"He… hasn't been himself lately." she mumbled, causing the four to jump at her words.

"Is it because of the Heartless?" Donald asked as he pulled out his weapon, looking around suspiciously. Despite the seriousness of the matter, Kyrie couldn't help but laugh silently at the look on the duck's face. Jasmine quickly shook her head.

"I'm not sure. Usually, he's the same cheerful Aladdin. But sometimes…he just seems sad. He leaves the palace and goes off by himself all the time. I've asked him about it, but he says nothing's wrong. He's gone again today. What if he doesn't come back this time?" she explained, worried about the young man's safety. But at that moment, Iago shot out from behind Kyrie and Goofy, startling the girl as he began to run his mouth.

"Hey, maybe he's got a secret girlfriend. I know! I'll go find out who she is!" he suggested as he ran his mouth, but Jasmine quickly snapped out of it and tried to catch him.

"Iago! Quick, Sora, catch him! And I'll warn the guards and everyone in the palace!" she cried, before turning and running off to find the nearest guards. Everyone stood there silently for a moment before Kyrie face-palmed.

"_Nice job, Iago. Next time, don't say anything about secret girlfriends or whatever when you're trying to make amends." _she thought sourly as Sora began to berate the bird.

"Gee, maybe we should go talk to Aladdin. He's gotta be somewhere in town right?" Goofy asked. Sora nodded in agreement.

"Good idea. I wonder what he's been doing." He spoke as they began to backtrack into town again. Iago landed on Kyrie shoulder and sighed, earning a few sympathetic pats on the head from Kyrie in response. About halfway through Agrabah, a familiar brown monkey ran in front of them, a black lamp in his arms.

"Stop thief!" someone shouted as a familiar young man chased after the monkey, with a very angry little man on his heels. Aladdin looked over and smiled sheepishly as he chased Abu.

"Hi Sora!" he called as he ran past, the little man hot on his heels.

"Come back here!" the man cried, shaking his fist in the air. The four looked at each other and shrugged, before pursuing the three. They finally caught up with them as Aladdin and the small man cornered Abu in an alley, the man taking the lamp from Aladdin with a scowl on his face.

"If you can't control that fur ball… put a leash on him!" The Peddler snarled as he began walking away.

"Look, I'm sorry…You should be ashamed of yourself, Abu!" Aladdin scolded, looking at the monkey. The peddler walked past them in a huff, but just as he passed Kyrie, she felt a dark feeling course through her. She turned and looked, her eyes focused on the lamp that he carried. She heard Iago gasp, but ignored it for the moment.

"_That lamp…something dark lives inside it. I don't know how or why…but something does." _she thought, watching as the small man walked off.

"Hey guys, sorry about earlier. I was kinda in a hurry." Aladdin spoke as he approached them, before noticing Kyrie. "Oh, hey Kyrie. Man, I haven't seen you in awhile."

"Yeah, she's been traveling with us for a while. So, what happened?" he asked. Aladdin sighed and rolled his eyes.

"You know Abu. He couldn't keep his paws off that lamp." But whatever was said next Kyrie ignored, as she took a couple steps in the direction the peddler had gone.

"That lamp…it's Jafar's lamp…" she heard Iago stammer, and looked at him as he shook on her shoulder, scared out of his wits. She began to stroke his feathers, trying to calm the poor creature down before he could frighten himself further.

"Uh, Sora?"

"Iago? Oh, right…he wants to apologize for all the trouble he caused."

"Oh, he does?"

"Gawrsh, he's so sorry, he's shakin'!"

"Th-th-that lamp!" Iago stammered, loud enough for the others to hear as he shook and trembled on Kyrie's shoulder. She increased her tempo, trying to calm him down in whatever way she could.

"What about it?" Aladdin asked as they approached.

"It was **the** lamp!"

"C'mon. There're a million like it."

"Hey! I was locked up in that thing for months! There's no way I'd mistake it!" he cried, shaking like a leaf. Kyrie shot them all warning looks as she tried to console him.

"_You guys aren't helping! Poor Iago…you're shaking like a leaf…" _Kyrie thought as she gently took him from his perch and cradled him against her chest.

"Then we'd better go back and talk to that peddler." Aladdin spoke, obviously now concerned about the lamp. Sora nodded, fully agreeing with his plan.

"Right behind you." And with that, the group took off. Kyrie kept Iago cradled close to her chest as they ran, one keyblade summoned as they came across a few heartless, slashing them to bits, before continuing on.

"You're really good. Ever consider being a bodyguard?" Iago asked as they ran. Kyrie smiled and shook her head, she hadn't thought about it. Then again, in almost every world so far, they had to protect someone from the heartless. Once they got to the shop, Kyrie and Aladdin waited outside as Sora, Donald, and Goofy walked in. While they waited, Abu climbed up into Kyrie's arms as Iago took his usual place on her shoulder, both of them glaring at each other.

"I guess you have a thing for animals. With Iago and Abu clinging to you and all." Aladdin laughed, causing her to giggle silently. After a few minutes, Sora, Donald, and Goofy returned, but with dejected looks on their faces.

"He wants us to go to the Cave of Wonders and get a treasure fit for a sultan. He won't give it to us otherwise." Sora explained. Aladdin nodded.

"A treasure for a sultan, eh? Well, let's go."

-Later, Cave of Wonders-

Kyrie stared in awe at the cave the group was currently standing in front of. The mouth of the cave actually looked like a mouth, a tiger's mouth that is.

"This is it!" Iago spoke, pointing in the direction of the mouth. The group nodded as they walked in, going down a flight of stairs before arriving at the Valley of Stone.

"_This place is so huge…" _Kyrie thought as they walked past the large stone pillars that littered the place. But within seconds, more unknown heartless appeared, some of which looked like little fireballs and ice cubes.

"Look out!" Iago cried, causing her to turn just as a human-like heartless dressed in purple garments came at her, a blizzard spell forming at its fingertips. Kyrie ducked immediately, before bringing her Lost Memory keyblade in an uppercut, taking the heartless out instantly.

"_Thanks, Iago." _Kyrie thought as she ran to catch up with the others, who were moving on to the next room. The room was medium sized, with waterfalls on each side of the room and a floating red jewel at the other end of the room. Abu and Donald were eyeing it hungrily, both having weaknesses to gems and gold alike. Kyrie hesitated at the entrance of the room, eyeing the waterfalls warily.

"Abu!" Aladdin cried as Abu jumped off his shoulder, running over and grabbing the stone, pulling it down. The waterfalls stopped, and mean-looking gold statues appeared, causing ice crystals to start falling from the ceiling. Abu ran in circles, carrying the stone as crystals fell around him.

"Put that stone in the indentation, quick!" Iago cried, pointing to where a pedestal rested on the other side of the room, a deep indentation in it. Sora nodded as he ran forward, grabbing Abu and jumping over a wall of water as it formed.

"Got it!" he cried. When he got to the pedestal, he released Abu and the monkey placed the gem inside the indention, causing the icicles to disappear and the statues to change from angry to content. After making sure nothing else was coming after them, the group continued on.

-Later-

"Whoa…" everyone said in awe as they walked into the treasure room, mountains of gold and jewels surrounding them.

"Okay, now let's look around. Shout when you see something that looks fitting for a sultan." Aladdin ordered. The others nodded as they looked around, the boys taking one side of the room as Kyrie and Iago took the other.

"What about this?" Iago asked as he pointed to a large emerald, but Kyrie quickly shook her head. She held up a large sapphire, but got the same answer from Iago.

"This's gonna take forever!" he sighed, causing her to silently giggle. Suddenly, something scampered between her legs, causing her to fall against the wall with a loud thud. The two heard a sudden rumbling and looked up, finding themselves under a strange pipe.

"What's-" suddenly a river of gold and jewels rained down on them, burying them under the mountain of valuables.

"Kyrie! Iago!" Sora cried as he, Donald, Goofy, and Aladdin ran over, trying to dig the unfortunate two out. After a minute or so of digging, Iago and Kyrie popped their heads out, gasping in relief.

"Finally! Fresh air!" he cried, gasping for breath. Kyrie nodded in agreement as she pulled herself out, relieved that she was no longer buried under the large amount of treasure.

"_But I'm definitely gonna have bruises later…" _she thought sourly. The rest of the group continued their search, before something caught Aladdin's eye.

"There. That one should do it." He called, pointing to a large gold trophy-like treasure. It had different jewels and glimmered beautifully in the lighting of the room. Sora and Donald got a closer look at it, nodding in agreement.

"Oh boy, it's perfect. That guy's gonna like this."

"Sure looks valuable."

"Great! Now let's go get that lamp. We gotta keep Jafar bottled up or he's gonna destroy Agrabah!" Aladdin smiled, obviously pleased that everyone agreed with his choice. But something caught Kyrie's eye as she turned, spotting a familiar black-pointed ear as it stuck out from the room entrance. Her eyes narrowed.

"_I know that ear…" _she thought as she walked forward, summoning her keyblades and completely ignoring Sora and the others as they scolded Iago and Abu, who were trying to take a jewel. Suddenly, the room darkened, and heartless appeared. She quickly jumped back, startled.

"_Damn, heartless!" _she thought, looking around at the different types that had them surrounded. The others grouped together, allowing the heartless to surround them so they could take them out when the heartless came near.

"Why does this always happen?" Donald groaned. But the others ignored them as the heartless swooped in, Abu and Iago trying to take cover as the fighting began. Kyrie was at their side in moments, standing protectively in front of them as she destroyed the heartless that came near.

"Give them a right, and a left, no go upward- yes! Keep going-" Iago cheered as Abu chattered on in his monkey language. Kyrie ignored his comments for the moment though, because the fight was much more important. Once the fighting was over, they regrouped and Aladdin grabbed the trophy treasure.

"Let's go!"

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><p><strong>Hey guys! Sorry for not updating sooner, but I went to Matsuri con and had a blast! So I hope you enjoy this newest chapter of "Bonded Souls"!<strong>

**Please read and review.**


	29. Fighting the Lords

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 29

It was mid-day when the group walked back into the Peddler's shop, only to find him gone.

"Hello?" Aladdin called as he looked around.

"Stop your whining and hand it over!" they heard a familiar voice from outside shout, making everyone but Aladdin, Iago, and Abu scowl.

"Oh no! I'm trading it for treasure. This lamp is going to bring me riches!" the group looked at each other before running outside, in time to see Pete chasing the peddler in the direction of the palace. Without a second to waste, the group chased after the troublesome twosome, hoping that they could get the lamp before Pete did.

"Oh no, you don't! Get back here, you!" Pete shouted, shaking his fist.

"_I knew it, it was Pete that I saw back at the Cave of Wonders!" _Kyrie thought as she ran. When they ran into the palace grounds, Pete gained on him and snatched the lamp from his hands.

"Thank you." He smirked as he ran, the peddler now chasing him.

"It's mine!" he cried, leaping and snatching it back out of Pete's grasp. The group watched as the two darted back and forth, playing a strange game of "keep away" with each other.

"Lamp hog!"

"Go away!"

"…_Should we stop them?" _Kyrie thought as they watched. Finally Pete took the lamp from the small man's hands, keeping it high above his head as the little man tried jumping to take it from him.

"Heh heh, I win!" he sneered. Suddenly, Iago flew from Kyrie's shoulder and took the lamp from Pete's grasp with his little feet. Pete looked up and realized what had just happened as he and the peddler chased the bird, trying to get the lamp back.

"Nice one, Iago!" Sora cheered, pumping his fist into the air as he did so. Kyrie smiled and whistled in approval.

"_You go Iago! Whoo!" _her thoughts screamed as she began to jump up and down.

"Way to go!" Aladdin called, following Sora's lead as he pumped his fist.

"Don't drop it!" Donald called, eyeing the lamp warily. Goofy gasped and pointed.

"Look! Behind you!" He exclaimed. Iago began to zigzag back and forth before making a sharp turn, causing both the peddler and Pete to run into the wall. Kyrie winced at the sound of the impact, causing Iago to look back to see if his plan had worked. Big mistake.

"_Iago, watch out-" _Kyrie thought as she pointed, but it was too late. He slammed into the wall with a loud thud, falling to the floor and dropping the lamp as he did so. Kyrie gasped and ran over, just as Pete picked up the lamp. Kyrie ignored this, and went to Iago's side, picking the bird up and cradling him against her chest.

"Nice try, bird brain. Just wait 'til Jafar's free! He's gonna make one beauty of a Heartless! And as for you-" He quickly grabbed the back of Kyrie's jacket with his other hand, lifting her high off the ground at level with his head. She began to struggle, kicking and squirming as she tried to release herself from his grip.

"You're comin' with me! Maleficent's got somethin' real special planned for you!" he spoke, sneering at her. Sora gasped.

"Kyrie! Let her go, now!" he demanded, summoning his keyblade. But in that instant, a flash of light radiated off of Kyrie and stung Pete's hand, making him cry out in pain as he dropped her. She landed with a painful thud, but quickly picked herself up and dashed over to the others, not wanting to get grabbed again.

"You little-" Pete cried as he shook his hand, trying to shake the pain away. Suddenly, there was an earthquake as the sounds of shouting and bells rang out through the air, causing the others to look in the sky as something flew at them.

"I'm home!" a blue-skinned man shouted as he flew at them, flying past Pete before making a u-turn, grabbing him in a tight hug. "Al! It's been eons! Al, you princely little muffin, you!"

The others tried to stifle their laughter as they watched the blue-skinned man hug the living daylights out of Pete.

"Cosmic travel can get so lonely without a friend. To think I left you forlorn and Genie-less…Oh, the humanity!" he exclaimed. He looked Pete over for a moment before continuing, oblivious to the others behind him.

"Hey, Al, you've been puttin' on weight? Aw, of course, what am I saying? You're living at the palace now." He continued, teleporting away and leaving Pete in a daze. Then a clone of him appeared and they looked at each other lovingly.

"Aladdin!" one cried as the two men embraced. "Jasmine!" immediately a volley of fireworks went off, making Kyrie laugh silently with tears in her eyes as she watched. "I can just picture it…" he suddenly shrank and zoomed around Pete, the doppelganger disappearing as he did so.

"Wait, tell me. Am I being a pest? Just a big blue pest? Aw, who cares, Al! I'm just so glad to seeyou!" he cried as he grew again. Aladdin quickly walked over, deciding that Pete had enough and went to spare him from his best friend's affection. "Genie!" he cried, causing the man, Genie, to look at him.

After realizing his mistake, he went to embrace Aladdin as he lifted the smaller man off the ground, hugging him tightly.

"I'll teach you to make a fool out of me! Time for Plan B! I'm finishin' you mugs off right now!" Pete cried as he regained his composure. He immediately clenched his hand and punched the ground, causing geysers to shoot up and some of the bushes to burst into flames. The group jumped back as two large heartless appeared, one blue the other red.

"_Oh man…" _Kyrie thought as she stepped back, Iago in her arms. She quickly darted over to Genie and placed the bird in his arms, before summoning her keyblades. Genie looked at the girl in concern.

"Are you sure you can handle those guys?" he asked. She looked at him and gave him a curt nod before running in. The red one was up first as it slammed into the ground, burning the ground where it touched. Sora was quickly to stop it, sending it flying at its partner as the two ricochet. Kyrie came right after him, jumping up in the air and slamming her Lost Memory keyblade into the blue one just as it tried attacking, throwing it into the wall.

"Donald, Goofy! Take care of those guys! Kyrie, Aladdin, and I got these two!" Sora shouted as a dozen ice-cube and fire-ball like heartless appeared, hindering them. Donald and Goofy nodded, going after the small fry while Sora, Aladdin, and Kyrie deal with the two larger ones. Aladdin was first as he ran in, using his sword to stop the fire heartless in its tracks, allowing Sora and Kyrie to jump in.

"Kyrie, go for the head!" Sora shouted as he slammed his Kingdom Key into the heartless' stomach. Kyrie nodded as she pulled her keyblades above her head, before slamming them both down, but the heartless raised its staff, stopping her attack. With a swing of its arms, it sent her flying into the wall, causing her to gasp out in pain as she crumpled to the floor. Sora and Aladdin gasped.

"Kyrie!" they cried, before the heartless went after them. As they fended off the heartless lords, Iago and Abu came over and tried to get the girl to her feet.

"C'mon, wake up! You gotta keep fighting!" Iago urged as he shook her shoulder. She made a soft noise as her eyes fluttered open, dazed and confused. Taking a quick look around, she realized that Sora and Aladdin still needed help, and struggled to her feet.

"_That thing's gonna pay for that…" _she thought as she ran in, keyblades in hand. She quickly jumped in the air while the blue heartless had its back turned, before successfully slamming her keyblades down on its head. The heartless went down easily, leaving its companion outnumbered. Sora, Kyrie, and Aladdin surrounded it, weapons drawn.

"Go!" Aladdin shouted, and they all ran in simultaneously and brought their weapons down on it, destroying it instantly. Both heartless faded, each releasing a large heart that disappeared into the sky. Pete growled as he shook his fist at them.

"You've messed with me for the last time! I'm gonna get you yet!" he cried as he ran off, leaving them behind at the palace courtyard.

-Later-

After sealing the lamp in a dungeon inside the palace, the group found themselves back at the palace courtyard talking to Jasmine and Genie, introducing their new companion to him.

"Hmm…so your name's Kyrie? Nice name, it has a nice zing to it." he spoke, making the girl giggle silently as her cheeks turned a faint shade of pink.

"Abu!" everyone turned and watched as Abu ran in, Aladdin right after him. The monkey was holding a familiar large jewel as it ran. "Catch him!" Aladdin called. Within seconds, Sora, Donald, and Goofy dove in, landing on top of the poor creature. Kyrie gasped as she ran over, pushing them off of Abu before picking the monkey up, making sure that he hadn't gotten hurt.

"He must've secretly stolen it from the Cave of Wonders." Aladdin sighed, pointing at the jewel. Donald quickly glared at the monkey.

"Abu!" he scolded, snatching the gem out of his hands. But after taking one look at it, Donald was transfixed on the gem, his mouth agape.

"I guess some things are just hard to resist." Goofy murmured as the duck continued to stare. The others nodded, fully agreeing with him. Donald quickly snapped out of it, shaking his head.

"Aw, who needs it!" he shouted, throwing his hand forward. The others turned, expecting the jewel to land a few feet away, but nothing hit the floor. Abu began to screech wildly, and pulled Donald's hidden hand into the open, revealing the gem inside it. "Oh…uh…I guess it got stuck!" he chuckled embarrassingly. Suddenly, it let off an unnatural glow. Kyrie sighed.

"_Here we go again…" _she thought as her body lit up as well, but this time instead of nothing happening to her, a voice spoke.

"_**You must hurry, there isn't much time. The people you hold dear are quickly approaching their doom, only you can save them." **_a familiar feminine voice spoke, causing her eyes to widen at the words.

"_Huh? What do you mean? Who is approaching their doom?" _she thought, trying to discern her cryptic words. But the voice didn't speak any further, as Sora sealed away the keyhole with his keyblade. Aladdin quickly walked over, confused at what just happened.

"Sora…What is it?" he asked, confused. Sora looked up at the sky before looking at him.

"I think it's time for us to go." He answered. Aladdin and Jasmine looked at each other sadly, before looking back at the group.

"Will you be back?" Jasmine asked. Sora nodded, grinning as he pumped his fist.

"We will, I promise!" he assured her. Kyrie nodded as well, stroking Iago's feathers fondly once more before the four disappeared.

-The Gummi Ship-

"Oh man, Agrabah was so hot…" Sora sighed as he walked into the ship, greeted by cool air conditioning. Kyrie nodded as she settled back into her chair, relieved to finally have some cold air blowing on them instead of the insanely hot desert air.

"_You said it. I'm glad I didn't have my cloak this time…" _she thought as she reclined her chair, exhausted. Taking off her backpack, she noticed how much heavier it felt than normal, and quickly opened it to see what was making it so heavy. What she saw made her gasp.

"_What the- how'd all these jewels get in here?" _she thought as she stared. She saw mostly gems and a few pieces of gold. Reaching in, she pulled out a mouse-sized ruby and stared at it, before shaking her head.

"_They must've fallen in when Iago and I had all that gold dumped on us. …I guess I'll keep them for now, I could probably use them later." _she quickly opened one of the extra pockets and placed all the gems and coins there for safekeeping, making sure that Donald wasn't watching. For all she knew, he might attack her and plead for her to give him the jewels.

"So Donald, what world are we goin' to next?" Goofy asked as he sat down. Donald looked over their coordinates before looking back at the three.

"It's Halloween town!" he answered. Sora smiled.

"Great! We'll get to see Jack and the others again!" at this, Kyrie raised her eyebrow.

"_Jack? Oh. He must mean another Jack. It is a very common name, after all." _she thought. Then she frowned, before looking at the window. She remembered the voice that called out to her in Agrabah, and stared out her window in worry.

"_What did that voice mean? Will something happen to Sora and the others soon? Or…was it talking about Axel, Demyx, and Xigbar?"_

-Meanwhile-

A girl with dark red hair sighed sadly as she stood on a beach, watching the waves as they rolled onto the sand, before pulling back out to sea.

"Maybe…waiting isn't good enough." she spoke sadly, holding her hands tightly in front of her. A strange warping sound startled her as she turned, a red-haired man standing a few feet in front of her.

"My thoughts exactly. When you want something, you should go for it. Why don't we go see him?"

* * *

><p><strong>Oooooh, what's our dear Axel got planned for Kairi? ...Well, I think you all should know by now since this goes with the KH 2 plotline. If not...look it up on youtube. Or somewhere else.<strong>

**Anyways, please read and review. And I hope you enjoyed this chapter! XD**


	30. Welcome to Halloween Town!

**Whoa! You guys really freaked out last chapter. And all because of Axel and Demmy...**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 30

"We're here!" Donald called as the ship approached the new world. The others nodded as they got out of their chairs and surrounded him. He quickly opened the hatch, before jumping out with Goofy following after him.

"You're going to love Halloween town, Kyrie. They celebrate Halloween there everyday of the year, and Jack is the king of Halloween." Sora chattered as they climbed down. Kyrie nodded, she didn't know what Halloween was, but she'd ask later. Suddenly a flash of light surrounded them, causing her to gasp and lose her grip as she fell, landing on the ground with a painful thud.

"_Ow…" _Kyrie thought as she lifted herself from the ground, rubbing her back as she did so. She felt a change in her clothes as they brushed against her skin and looked down, before gasping. She was dressed in a black dress that had a orange sash around her waist, and two chains with black crosses on them crisscrossing over the area below the sash. She had a black and orange cape on as it flowed over her shoulders and reached to her feet, a familiar blue heart that resembled her hairclip acting as a tie and keeping the cape on her.

Her tights were black and orange, going from the toes on her feet to her thighs, and she had brown shoes on her feet. Feeling something on her head, she reached up and pulled down a black pointy hat that had an orange band wrapped around the middle of it, with a cat-shaped clip with a bow that held the band together.

"_Wow…I look so strange…" _she thought as she looked at herself again, before realizing that something was wrapped around the right side of her face. Reaching up, she felt the familiar texture of bandages.

"_Oh, I have bandages wrapped around the right side of my face…not much of a difference if you ask me." _she thought.

"Kyrie, are you okay?" turning, she spotted Sora, Donald, and Goofy as they walked over, making sure that she was okay. Donald was wrapped in nothing but bandages, looking like a mummy. Goofy looked like a strange monster, with stitches on some of his body and large bolts on both sides of his neck. Sora looked like a gothic bat, with an orange mask covering his right eye. The three stopped and looked her over.

"Wow, you look cool, Kyrie!" Sora complimented, making her blush. "You look like you're going to cast a spell on someone." he added. Donald and Goofy nodded in agreement before looking around at their surroundings. They were standing in a graveyard, with large tombstones scattered around them. This creeped her out, making her inch closer to Sora and the others. They walked over to where a scarecrow with a scary-looking pumpkin head stood, a sign in front of it that read "Halloween town".

"It's great to be back in Halloween town." Sora spoke as they stared at the sign. Donald nodded, grabbing one end of his wrap.

"Well, it sure looks like Halloween- …wha?" he began before turning, spotting a row of glittering red and green lights that led into the town. The others followed his gaze and stared at the lights in confusion before Kyrie felt something cold brush against her. Jumping, she ran into Sora and the both toppled over, with her on top of him.

"Ow, Kyrie! What was that for-" Sora started but stopped when he looked behind her. Getting to his feet, he stared at the ghost dog that hovered where she had been just moments before.

"Hey, it's Zero! How've you been, boy?" he asked as the dog circled him. Zero gave him a bark before floating down the path of the glittering lights. Kyrie stared after the dog in confusion before huffing and getting to her feet, feeling ashamed that such a thing scared her.

"_Besides, I don't even know what Halloween is…maybe now I can ask, so I don't offend anyone." _she thought as they walked. Pulling out her notebook, she tugged on Sora's sleeve, making him turn to look at her.

**Sora, what's Halloween?**

"Huh? You don't know what Halloween is? Well…every year, there's a special day when you can dress up as a monster, princess, or whatever you want and go door to door asking for candy. You say "trick or treat" and the people give you candy. It's the scariest night of the year, and always full of surprises." he explained. She nodded as she listened. The group continued to explain more about the holiday to her as they walked, before they finally got into town.

"_What the…?" _Kyrie thought as they walked into town square. More of the lights were hung everywhere and a long wooden launch pad stood alone near the fountain. It looked rickety and unstable, completely unsafe if anyone were to stand on it.

"What's that for?" Sora asked, looking at the others. They shrugged their shoulders before they could hear the sound of bells, making them look around in confusion.

"_Bells? On Halloween? But I thought Sora said Halloween was a creepy holiday…" _Kyrie thought as they looked. Donald took a glance at the sky and gasped, pointing.

"It's Jack!" he cried happily. A strange-looking contraption landed on the launch pad, with a few skeleton animals leading it. Inside was a tall skeleton, who was looking at them and smiling.

"Sora, Donald, Goofy, and new girl! Welcome, welcome back and Merry Christmas!" he cried, waving at them as he stood and walked out of the contraption. Kyrie raised her eyebrow, what was Christmas?

"Merry Christmas? Don't you mean 'Happy Halloween'?" Sora asked, looking at him as if he grew another head. The skeleton nodded, seeming to correct himself.

"Of course, Halloween greetings from Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King." He spoke, placing a hand on his chest as he did so. Suddenly, he lurched forward and gave a roar, causing Sora and Donald to jump while Goofy and Kyrie just stared. He quickly straightened up, smiling and waving a bony hand.

"Forgive me. I'm in a Christmas mood. You see, I'm running the show again this year… but I need Sandy Claw's blessing, so I'm off to Christmas Town." He explained. Sora looked at him, at the others, then back to him again. He quickly turned to the others and they huddled up, earning a confused look from the pumpkin king.

"Sandy Claws?" he asked.

"I think he means Santa Claus." Goofy corrected. Kyrie simply scowled, who was Santa Claus and what was Christmas?

"_Grr…I swear I'm going to grab someone in five seconds and demand them to tell me what Christmas is. The suspense is killing me!" _she thought in aggravation. She quickly stepped out of the huddle and approached the skeleton, only to have him jump on the rim of the fountain and wave his arms around, gesturing at the decorations, before stopping and looking down at them.

"Aren't these decorations wonderful? This year Halloween Town's going to handle Christmas too! But first, we have to visit Sally. She's working on something no self-respecting Santa Claus can do without. Come along…I'll show you!" he spoke in awe, looking around at his handiwork. Kyrie was silent before nodding, the decorations were wonderful, but it just didn't seem to suit the town. She quickly followed after him as he walked, her curiosity getting the better of her. Glancing at the skeleton man, she smiled gently at the wide grin on his face as he looked straight ahead, lost in his thoughts.

"_Jack seems like a sweet person. Despite his title of being the king of Halloween." _she thought. The sudden sound of pitter patter against cobblestone caught her attention and she turned, spotting Sora, Donald, and Goofy as they ran after them. She stopped and waited for them to catch up, Jack having caught notice of this and waited as well.

"Hurry up, gentlemen! Sally can't wait." Jack called. Sora nodded frantically as he finally caught up with them before speaking up.

"Oh, Jack! This is our new friend, Kyrie. Kyrie, this is Jack Skellington, the king of Halloween!" Sora spoke as he introduced the two. Jack smiled a crooked smile at her and extended a bony hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." he smile. Kyrie nodded as she took his hand and shook it, feeling his cold, bony fingers against hers. He stared at her curiously for a moment, before Donald spoke up.

"She can't talk, so that's her way of saying "hello"." he explained. The pumpkin king nodded in understanding before turning, continuing towards the doctor's house. Once they got there, he opened the doors and walked in, the others following after him. The room looked like a small lab, with many bookshelves and a table for placing large things on. Near the door, three children dressed in Halloween costumes stood, surrounding what looked like a robotic leg. On the other side of the room, a small creature in a wheelchair sat, reading a very thick book. Half of his skull was open, revealing his brain for all to see.

"_Yuck!" _Kyrie thought as she shuddered, unable to take her eyes away from the object. Jack didn't seem at all phased by this as he walked over, standing next to the small creature.

"Hello, Doctor! Where's Sally?" Jack inquired as he looked at the creature. The doctor reached up and began scratching his brain, making Kyrie gag in revulsion as she watched.

"_Oh man, this is so sick! I don't even want to know how it is possible for a person to scratch their brain, let alone have their head open for all to see!" _she thought as she turned away, earning sympathetic pats on the back from Sora and Goofy.

"It's okay, he'll close it in a minute." Sora murmured, feeling bad for her. His assumption proved true as the doctor closed his head, turning to glare at the taller being at his side.

"Can't you see… that I'm in the middle of an experiment?" he asked, annoyed as he turned his mechanized chair around to glare at the group. Around this time, the three children picked up the robotic leg they were surrounding and began to carry it over. They stopped in front of Sora and his companions, looking like they were tired of carrying the heavy object.

"Hey, this is way too heavy!" the red one complained. The little witch just rolled her eyes as she glanced back at her two companions.

"Then let's toss it!" she suggested, snickering. Before they could act on her idea, the Doctor turned to them, glaring at them monstrously.

"You do and you'll be sorry! Now bring it over here." He snarled. They nodded before tossing the leg onto the table, making it spark and sizzle when it made contact. They laughed mischievously before taking off their masks and bolting, wanting to get out of the room before the Doctor had a chance to explode at them.

"_I guess these are the troublesome trick-or-treaters Sora told me about. Um…Lock, Shock, and Barrel." _Kyrie thought as she watched them go. The Doctor growled loudly as he slammed his fists on his chair, making the others jump and turn to him.

"Imbeciles! Now my experiment is ruined!" he rant and raved. At that moment, a woman who looked like a badly sewn together doll walked in, Jack smiling when he spotted her.

"Sally! Did you finish it? I want to show my good friends." Jack asked excitedly, causing the woman to look at her hands sadly.

"I'm sorry, Jack. I… I need a little bit more time." She spoke softly, a strange mix of reluctance and shame in her voice. Jack sighed for a moment and placed a hand on his hips.

"Ohh…Well, that's all right. Just as long as it's ready for Christmas!" he brightened, patting her shoulders before walking past her, heading for the door. "But…Jack…"

"I'd best be off. I've got to go get Sandy Claws, right away! Wonderful to see you again. Good-bye for now!" he called as he walked out, leaving behind a confused and baffled group as they stared at the door. Kyrie gave Sally a sympathetic look, to poor girl looked like she was in dire need of some help.

"_Maybe it has something to do with Jack. She did seem a bit reluctant to the whole Christmas idea." _she paused for a moment, frowning. _"And I __**still**__ don't know what Christmas is! I want to ask, but I don't want to be rude. Gah!" _she thought, crossing her arms angrily. Sora seemed off in his own thoughts, not even bothering to look at Sally as she walked with him.

"Please, Sora. I'm afraid something terrible will happen if Jack goes through with this." She explained with a shake of her head. Donald and Goofy nodded frantically, agreeing with her on the whole Halloween-Christmas thing.

"You can say that again!" Donald added. Goofy looked at Sora, realizing that the boy was staring off into space. Kyrie sighed and face palmed, pigs would fly or she could speak before that boy would stop being oblivious.

"Sora?" Goofy asked, trying to jar the boy out of his thoughts. Suddenly, the door opened causing the group to flinch, before turning and spotting Jack at the door. He seemed a little frantic as he looked at them, his empty eye sockets focused on Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Kyrie.

"Are those strange-looking fellows in the town square with you?" He asked. Sora cocked his head to the side, confused at the skeleton's words.

"Huh? What 'fellows'?" he asked, confused. Jack pointed to the door behind him as he continued.

"You know the ones who wanted to spoil Halloween _and_ Christmas? What are they called again…?" He paused for a moment, tapping his skull for a few moments before finishing. "Heartless?"

Within seconds, Kyrie had her keyblades drawn as she stepped towards the door, heartless mean trouble.

"_We never get a chance to sit back and relax. It's always heartless, heartless, nobodies, Pete, and more heartless!" _she thought angrily as she opened the door and ran outside, not bothering to check and see if Sora and the others were behind her. In the center of town where strange heartless wrapped in bandages, their long appendages twitching as they moved about. Zero and an unknown person were near the house, the creature yelling into a cone.

"Now here this, you… you things! Leave Halloween Town at once… by order of the mayor! Jack? Where are you? I'm only an elected official…I can't handle this by myself." He cried. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Jack ran down the steps and caught up with her, before Jack approached the man. His head turned, making Kyrie flinched, and he cried out.

"Jack!"

"We're on it!" Sora cried as he, Donald, Goofy, and Kyrie ran in, weapons raised. Jack joined in as well, using magic as his weapon to dispatch the heartless. But a minute into the fight, Kyrie didn't know which was more dangerous, the heartless or the town square itself?

"_Duck!" _she thought as she ducked, avoiding acid that was spewed from the fountain. Donald cried out as he nearly bit it with the guillotine, and Goofy was shot up fifteen feet into the air thanks to the geysers that came from the drain. Poor Sora got sent flying when a gate slammed open on him, and only Jack seemed to avoid all of the dangers of the square as they fought the heartless.

Once all of the heartless were gone, Jack sighed, turning to them.

"How is Sandy Claws supposed to relax with all this going on?"

* * *

><p><strong>Finally, we've come to Halloween town! Yay! ...Don't ask why Kyrie doesn't know what christmas is, remember, she did lose all of her memories. So it would be understandable if she couldn't remember what christmas was.<strong>

**Here's a link to Kyrie's halloween-town look. Just get rid of the spaces. h t t p: / k-chanlovesanimexd . deviantart . com / gallery / # / d4dtz7a**

**Anyways, enjoy and read and review!**


	31. Meeting Santa Claus

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 31

"How is Sandy Claws supposed to relax with all this going on?" Jack asked as the five stood in the middle of the square. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Kyrie looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders before he snapped his fingers, looking at the four.

"That's it, fellows and Kyrie! Sandy Claws needs bodyguards. Are you up to the task?" he asked. Donald, Goofy, and Kyrie jumped. They had not expected Jack to ask such an outrageous question.

"Us?" Donald asked. Sora nodded enthusiastically, ignoring the looks the others were giving him.

"Yeah." He answered immediately. Donald placed his hands on his hips and tapped his foot, frustrated at Sora's enthusiasm. Kyrie followed suit, crossing her arms as she glared at him.

"_Sora, you never think things over! You're such a kid." _she thought. Jack grinned at Sora's answer before turning, waving in a 'follow me' gesture as he began walking.

"All right, bodyguards!" he called. Sora followed the eager skeleton while Donald and Kyrie followed grudgingly behind, not able to hold their ground against Sora's childish nature. Goofy smiled from behind them, he was more than happy to follow Sora, wherever the boy went.

"Christmas Town is this way! The doorway is in the woods just past the graveyard!" he continued, pointing beyond the town. Kyrie gave a sigh, maybe now was the time to ask them who Santa Claus was and what Christmas was all about.

_"Better now then later, when we have to meet the man himself."_ she thought. With that, she pulled out her notebook and ran past the group, stopping a few feet in front of them, her feet planted firmly on the ground. They gave her confused looks, wondering why she was stopping them.

"What's wrong, Kyrie?" Goofy asked. Kyrie quickly held up one finger before writing down in her notebook.

**Who is this "Santa Claus" that you all keep talking about? And what is "Christmas" exactly?**

"What? You don't know who Sandy Claws is? Or Christmas?" Jack asked, astounded. Sora came to her defense immediately, placing a hand on Jack's arm as he did so.

"Kyrie lost her memories before we met her, so she wouldn't remember who Santa was and what Christmas is. She didn't even know what Halloween was when we first got here, so we had to explain it to her." he explained. Jack seemed taken aback as he looked at the white-haired girl in front of him.

"Oh…"

"Kyrie, Christmas is a holiday, like Halloween. But on Christmas, you don't scare people and get candy like you do on Halloween. On Christmas, you give and get presents from other people, like family and friends. You also get presents from Santa Claus, who travels all over the worlds to give presents to good kids." Sora explained. Kyrie nodded and allowed them to pass, seeming pleased with the answer. As they made their way to the Hinterlands, the group continued to explain all of the holiday traditions to her, like kissing under the mistletoe or decorating houses with lights and other decorations.

Kyrie was like a child, taking all of this information in and constantly asking/writing more questions. Jack was more than happy to explain more to the girl, like a teacher was to a new student. Sora allowed him to do so, with him, Donald, and Goofy adding some input from time to time.

"_Wow…Christmas sounds like a wonderful holiday. I can see why Jack loves it so much." _Kyrie thought as they walked, finally allowing the group a break from explaining things to her. The group wandered into a clearing where there were many trees, and one tree stood alone in the center of the clearing. It had a door in it, that resembled what Sora explained as a "Christmas tree". Kyrie stared at the door curiously as Jack began to ramble on.

"Here it is! The door to Christmas Town. The spooks of Halloween can get so tiresome year after year. I wanted something new. And I found this!" he explained, pointing to the tree. Sora leaned in towards the door, his hands on his knees, looking at the door with a mixture of happiness and excitement on his face. Kyrie smiled gently at the expression on the boy's face, it was endearing to her.

"Beyond this door is a world filled with wonders the likes of which you've never seen!" Jack continued, snapping the two of them back into reality as they looked at him. "At first I couldn't believe my eyes! Everything was so fresh and exciting!"

"C'mon! Just open it!" Sora cried, his excitement getting the better of him. Donald and Goofy looked anxious too, as if they were going to bust through the door in five seconds if Jack didn't open it. Truth be told, Kyrie was excited too, but not in the same way they were. She was more excited about learning more about the holiday itself. Jack nodded as he opened the door, allowing Sora, Donald, and Goofy to jump in. Kyrie hesitated, looking down into the darkness apprehensively. Jack caught this, and smile at her.

"There's nothing to be afraid of, you won't get hurt in any way, shape, or form. Now, ladies first." and with that, he gave her a little push, causing her to jump and fall in. With that, he jumped too, closing the door behind him.

-Yuletide Hill-

Kyrie fell and landed on something soft and squishy. But when that soft and squishy thing gave a groan, she jumped and got off, Donald, Goofy, and Sora in a dog pile beneath her. She ducked, nearly avoiding Jack as he followed after them, but unlike Sora and the others, he landed perfectly on his feet. After untangling each other from the pile, they stood and looked over the beautiful sight that lay below them.

"_Wow…it's so beautiful. I have to draw this later, when all of this is said and done." _Kyrie thought as she stared. The town was alight with many Christmas lights and covered in holly, candy canes, and other Christmas decorations. Nothing but glistening snow covered the ground, making Kyrie shiver a little from the cold.

"So where's Santa?" Donald asked as he looked around. Jack chuckled as he patted the duck on the head, before pointing to one of the larger buildings in town.

"In his workshop." He answered. Then he turned to the others, smiling brightly at them. "Shall we?" he asked. Sora and Donald nodded eagerly as they followed the bony man into town, Kyrie and Goofy standing alone for a few minutes as they watched them go. Goofy was about to follow, but stopped when he noticed Kyrie's hesitation.

"You sure you wanna come? We'd understand if you don't." Goofy asked. She gave a small nod, she wanted to come. But she wasn't sure about seeing Santa.

"_Maybe he can give me answers, since he knows everyone's names and whether they've been naughty or nice. Maybe he knows something about me that I don't." _she thought. She began to walk, making Goofy smile as he followed after her. Once they caught up with Sora and the others, the five began walking into town, when a group of heartless appeared. Startled, they jumped back as they summoned their weapons.

"Here too?" Sora cried. Kyrie nodded as she held her keyblades tightly, she wasn't at all surprised at the appearance of the heartless in Christmas town. She would've been more surprised if no heartless appeared in town.

"En garde, loyal bodyguards!" Jack cried. The group nodded as they ran in, engaging the heartless in combat. Kyrie had to duck when a toy-like heartless ran at her, knives raised as it slashed at her wildly. Using her keyblades to deflect it, she jumped back and summoned her shield, stopping the heartless and taking this opportunity to cut it down. After a few minutes, the boys had the heartless cleared and joined Kyrie as she stood by the carrousel, taking out one last heartless as it rebounded off of the carrousel, disappearing almost instantly.

"Christmas is in big trouble!" Donald spoke, his voice grim. Goofy nodded in agreement.

"Gawrsh, we can't let anything bad happen to Christmas." He agreed. Kyrie and Sora nodded in agreement before Jack walked forward, pointing to the largest building in town.

"That's where Sandy Claws lives." He called. Sora and Donald were gone in a flash, nearly knocking Kyrie off her feet as she stumbled, Goofy and Jack catching her before she could hit the ground.

"Sorry, Kyrie!" the two called as they got to the door. She huffed before shaking her head, a smile on her face. She really couldn't get mad at them, since they had such adorable looks on their faces.

"_Besides, I can't blame them. I'm a little excited, too." _she thought as they walked to the door. Sora knocked on the door, and after a moment or two, the door opened to reveal a tiny person. An elf.

The elf looked at them in confusion before spotting Jack towering over them, making him sigh.

"Please come in, Jack Skellington and company. Santa's in the living room, looking over his list." the little elf explained. Sora and Donald were the first through the door, Goofy and Jack following close behind. Kyrie was the last through as the elf closed the door, stopping to kneel and shake his hand in thanks before following the group into the living room. The room was decorated with many lights and little candy canes and whatnot, a big tree in one corner of the room, and a large couch where a very large man with a white beard dressed in red sat. She stared.

"_This is Santa Claus? Hm…he does match the description Sora and the other's gave…" _she thought as she looked him over. The man was currently looking over a large roll of paper that was halfway unfurled, the rest of it sitting on the floor a five feet away from him. Looking up, he spotted the group as they stared at him in awe.

"Well, hello everyone. Did you come to see if you're on my 'nice' list?" he asked, his voice kind. Sora nodded nervously and hesitated.

"Your name?" Santa asked, looking at Sora.

"Um, Sora, sir." He answered, nervous. The man looked the list over, speaking as he did so.

"Well according to my list, Sora, seven years ago you told everyone you did not believe in Santa Claus. Oh, that is unfortunate." He spoke, causing Sora to blush brightly and sigh sadly. Kyrie quickly placed her hands on his shoulders, trying her best to cheer him up. Donald looked almost smug before turning to Santa.

"How about Donald and Goofy?" he asked. The man looked his list over before looking at them, nodding. This caused the duck to jump up and down happily, before Santa turned his attention to Kyrie.

"How about you, young lady? What is your name?" he asked. Kyrie jumped and hesitated, before Goofy stepped in.

"Her name is Kyrie, Mr. Santa Claus, sir. She can't talk, so I'll ask you in her place." he explained. Kyrie shot him a grateful look before Santa looked at her, eyebrows raised.

"Kyrie, you say? My, I haven't seen that name on my list in over eleven years. The last girl who had that name disappeared, and she was only seven or eight years old…" he spoke, making the others look at the girl in confusion.

"Eleven years? Kyrie…what happened to you?" Sora asked. She stood there silently before Donald began to berate him.

"Sora, she can't remember what happened to her! Remember?" he quacked. Sora blushed a little and mumbled an apology before Kyrie pulled out her notebook and pen. There was one thing she needed to ask Santa.

**Mr. Santa Claus, I lost my memory some time back and right now I'm trying to find out who I was. Can you perhaps…tell me about the girl who had my name last? Maybe she might be me. Please?**

The man looked her words over, stroking his long beard as he did so.

"Hm…very well. Maybe you are her, and since you asked so nicely, I'll tell you. The girl who had your name last lived in Hollow Bastion, with her family. She had her grandfather and parents, but when she turned seven, her parents were killed. Her last Christmas before she disappeared, she had only one thing that she asked for, but it was something that I couldn't give her. I felt badly for her that year, because that was the only thing she wished for. And then, she disappeared." he explained. She nodded and wrote more.

**What was that one wish? What did she want?**

"Well…" he hesitated, not sure how to continue without hurting her feelings. But after looking into her brown, pleading eyes, he continued. "She wanted her parents back. She wanted her family to be whole again, but unfortunately, I can only give material things. I can't bring people back to life." he finished. The room went silent as his words died away, before Kyrie clutched her notebook tightly over her chest.

"_That was all I wanted? To see my parents again?" _she thought sadly, the feeling of her heart being torn in two. She didn't remember who they were, but from some of the dreams and visions she had, she could only guess that they loved her very, very much. And that she, in return, loved them the same. Heat began to build up behind her eyes, making her close them tightly. She felt a hand on her shoulder, but didn't dare to see who it was.

"Kyrie? You okay?" she heard Sora ask. She quickly shook her head, before turning and heading towards one of the doors. She didn't want them to see her cry, she had to try and be strong.

"Kyrie, wait-" but she closed the door quickly, cutting the voice off. She heard muffled voices, one of them telling Sora to leave her be. Walking into the snow, she slumped, sitting on the cold, snow-covered ground and pulling her knees to her chest, burying her head into her knees. She allowed the tears to fall, since she was now alone.

"_I wish I could remember…I hate not being able to remember anything! I want to remember them, I want to remember everything! No matter how painful those memories are…I could live with them. I could." _she thought as she sat there, crying. Suddenly, Axel's words came back to her, making her pull her head up and stare at the night sky.

"_**Hey, it's all gonna be okay. Just take your time, and we'll help you through it. Don't forget, Roxas and Xion lost their memories of their somebody's life too. So we'll just take it one step at a time, and you'll remember everything eventually." **_

She stared at the sky for a moment, a few more tears falling down her cheeks as she did so. Then hope blossomed inside her, causing her to smile sadly and brush a few tears away.

"_Axel…thank you."_

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><p><strong>Well, that's the end of this chapter. Hopefully, I'll have the Halloweentown part of this story done by the time Christmas eve comes. Anyways, enjoy!<strong>

**And please, I hate repeating this but...read and review!**


	32. The fight before Christmas

**Damn, I was hoping to get this segment done by the holidays, but I won't. Oh well...**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 32

Kyrie was silent as she sat on the cold ground, pondering on if she should go back inside or not. She was sure her visible eye was a little red from crying, and she didn't want them to think that it was their fault.

"_But then again, they're probably going to think that anyways since I walked out on them." _she thought with a sigh. Suddenly, she heard the sound of glass breaking looked to the left of her, spotting the three kids from earlier as they darted past.

"Let's go find Maleficent!" one of them cried. She was on her feet in seconds, Maleficent?

"_Why is that witch here? As if Christmas wasn't in enough danger…" _she thought before looking back at the door. Should she go and get Sora? Or should she chase them? Standing there for a moment, she quickly followed after the troublesome threesome, spy mode kicking in. She followed them through Yuletide hill and the Hinterlands, but when they got to the graveyard, she distanced herself from them. She didn't want to get caught by them and have to fight them. She could fight a grown man without a guilty conscious, but fighting a kid was different.

"_Kids are so much more innocent than adults, anyways. …Well, maybe not Lock, Shock, and Barrel, but most kids are innocent." _she thought as she hid behind a tombstone, watching as the three ran into a pair of gates that rested between Halloween town and the Hinterlands. Just as the three walked through the gates, Kyrie accidentally bumped into the tombstone she was hiding behind, causing it to rumble and shake.

"_Uh-oh…" _she thought as she jumped back, watching it fall forward and crash into another tombstone, making it shake and fall onto another. It was like a domino effect as she watch the tombstones fall one after another. Standing in the center of the graveyard surrounded by fallen tombstones, she breathed a sigh of relief. The three hadn't heard the commotion, so she was in the clear.

"_Phew…" _she sighed. She could hear footsteps behind her and turned, spotting Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Jack as they ran towards her. Sora smiled in relief when he spotted her.

"Kyrie!" he called, stopping in front of her. The two stared at each other for a few moments, before he looked away.

"Um, Santa says he's sorry for before. He didn't want to hurt your feelings…and we're sorry too." she smiled and hugged him, causing the boy to blush brightly before she pulled away, ruffling his hair. Pulling out her notebook, she began to write.

**It's alright, you didn't mean any harm. I'm just glad you're not mad at me for running out on you.**

"Why would we be mad at you? If someone told me something like that, I'd run out too!" he exclaimed. Jack quickly tapped Sora's shoulder, making the two turn to look at him.

"Um, I don't mean to interrupt but…we need to catch Lock, Shock, and Barrel for Sandy Claws!" Jack coughed. They nodded and with that, they continued on through the graveyard until they got to the gates. Opening them and waking through, they were surprised to see a large, round heartless that had a cage dangling from below it waiting for them. The troublesome trio were right below it, standing on top of what looked like a large, curly hill.

"_Damn! I knew it, it's Maleficent's!" _Kyrie thought as she quickly summoned her keyblades, staring at the heartless in aggravation. Lock, Shock, and Barrel snickered as they jumped into the cage, the heartless closing it and trapping them inside. Sora and the others summoned their weapons as well, just as the heartless raised the cage and shook it, making Lock fall into its mouth.

"_Ugh, it ate him!" _she thought in dismay and revulsion. But the heartless changed colors from grey to a red-orange, and Shock and Barrel pointed at them.

"Get them!"

"Squash them!"

The heartless was after them in moments, shooting fireballs at them. Kyrie dodged them easily, remembering the times she trained with Axel. The way the heartless was throwing fireballs at them, slightly resembled Axel when he threw his chakrams at her in the training sessions they had during her first week in the World that Never Was.

"_Ha! I've gotta thank Axel for this later, our training sessions are helping me exponentially!" _She smirked, dodging the latest fireball and leaping so that she was above it, before bringing both keyblades down in an 'X' formation. The heartless slammed into the ground with a dull thud, allowing Sora, Jack, and Donald to bombard it with attacks and spells alike, before it changed color again. But once it changed back to grey, all of their attacks went right through it.

"Ah!" Sora cried as he jumped out of the way of its spinning attack. Jack growled.

"It's like a ghost! We'll have to wait until it changes color again!" he called. They nodded as they moved back, creating some distance between them and the heartless as it lifted the cage and shook it. Lock popped out and landed inside the cage, while Shock took his place and fell inside it. This time, it turned purple and instead of throwing fireballs, it expelled light blue and purple beams from its fingertips. When this occurred, the group retreated and took cover under the curly hill, which proved to be a strong barrier against its attacks. Sora growled.

"We can't just stay under here forever, we have to destroy it!" he growled. Kyrie poked her head out and watched as the heartless continued to hurtle beams of light at them, causing her to duck behind the hill once more to avoid getting her head blown off.

"Maybe Goofy can use his shield to defend us while we move in to attack it." Jack suggested. But Donald shook his head.

"But Goofy can't protect all of us! What're we gonna do?" he exclaimed. Kyrie was silent before a few moments before smirking.

"_I think this could work…" _with that, she closed her eyes and saw the bubble shield inside her mind again. When she heard the others gasp, she opened her eyes and saw that the shield had appeared once more. Dropping a keyblade and pulling out her notebook, she began to write.

**Goofy, you can protect whoever gets outside of this shield to attack the heartless, while I protect everyone who is on standby. That way, each of us has a chance to attack and not get hurt in the long run.**

Goofy nodded as he stepped out of the shield, Sora following after him. With that, the group ran out, Goofy protecting Sora while Jack and Donald stayed close to Kyrie. With that it became a pattern, each time the person Goofy was protecting gave a certain amount of damage, they switched with someone inside Kyrie's shield and did the same thing. This continued until the heartless turned grey again.

"Gawrsh, is it gonna eat Barrel now?" Goofy asked as Kyrie dispelled her shield. She gave a curt nod as it shook the cage, popping Shock back out and devouring Barrel as it did so. The heartless turned green and glared at the group hungrily, before it barreled towards them. Crying out, they jumped out of the way as it sped past, surprised at the change of attack style. But thanks to its frontal assault, the gang was able to land more blows because all they had to dodge was a tackle and not multiple fireballs or beams of light.

But then something changed. Instead of popping one of the three back out and taking another in, it devoured the other two and turned red, purple, and green.

"_Oh crap." _Kyrie thought as it began a volley of fireballs and beam attacks, while tackling the team at the same time. She heard Donald cry out and turned, spotting a little fireball on the duck's tail as he ran. Running in, she waved her kingdom key over the fire, putting it out and saving the duck from further damage. Sora meanwhile, was attacking the heartless with everything he had while Jack watched his back, the two tag-teaming on the heartless. In no time at all, the heartless disappeared and the three children remained on the ground, surprisingly unharmed. They snickered and laughed at the five before Shock turned to her partners in crime.

"Let's go see if Mr. Oogie's ready!" Shock spoke, before the three ran off. Jack gasped, shocked.

"Oogie?" he exclaimed in surprise. Kyrie raised her eyebrow at him, who was Oogie? Sora had the same look of confusion as he tried to remember just who exactly Oogie was.

"Isn't he the one that tried to take over Halloween Town before?" Sora asked him. Jack nodded grimly as he turned to the others.

"That's him. Fellows, Kyrie, I hope you're ready for trouble…" he replied, looking towards the gates to the graveyard. Goofy sighed as he raised his arms for a moment.

"Don't we have enough trouble already?" he whined. Kyrie giggled silently and shook her head, the three were always a magnet for trouble, so she wasn't at all surprised that another villain had shown up to ruin Christmas. Once they got into the graveyard, they spotted a familiar face as Sally ran to them, her expression frantic.

"Jack, Sora! Something awful has happened, Oogie Boogie is back! And he kidnapped Mr. Santa Claus!"

"What?" the group cried as they stared at her in shock.

"Where did he take him, Sally?" Jack demanded. She turned and pointed in the direction of the Hinterlands, which led to Christmas Town.

"I'm not sure, but he's headed to Christmas Town!" she cried. They nodded before Sora turned to Jack.

"C'mon, Jack…let's hurry!" he urged. The skeleton man nodded as they took off, with Donald and Goofy not far behind. Kyrie stuck close to Sally as they followed the boys, acting as her bodyguard in case the group ran into any heartless. And with Jack so focused on saving Santa, he probably wouldn't notice if any harm came to her.

"_Wait…why am I thinking that way? They are just friends…right?" _she thought as she ran. The group ran into the Hinterlands and didn't waste any time with going into the door. But once they got to Yuletide Hill, they heard a loud explosion and looked out, to see smoke rising from Santa's house.

"That's Santa's house!" Donald exclaimed. Sora nodded as he summoned his keyblade, running ahead.

"C'mon!" he cried. The group followed after him, running into town and taking out a few small heartless before running into Santa's house, being met by frantic elves as they tried to explain what was going on.

"Oh, it's horrible!"

"A large bag just walked in, carrying Santa, but we couldn't stop him!"

"He was too strong!"

One after another, the elves chimed in and spoke in either unison or separately. Sora and Jack managed to calm them down, before running into Santa's workshop.

"This is it! Time to save Santa!"

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><p><strong>Stupid Oogie Boogie...why must you destroy christmas? Oh well. Jack will stop him, for sure.<strong>

**Anyways, read and review.**


	33. Goodbye, Halloween town

**Okay, so I guess I got this done by Christmas, which is today. Sadly, it's not a very merry one for me.**

**...Please don't ask why. I'd rather not go into it. Just read this chapter, and I hope you enjoy it.**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 33

As the group ran into the workshop, they were met with a strange sight. Kyrie and Sally stayed in the back while the boys walked forward, weapons drawn. The room seemed darker than the rest of the place, and half of a roulette table was painted over the wall of the toy producing machines.

"_But where is Santa Claus?" _Kyrie thought as they looked around. Out of nowhere, a large bag jumped down on them, knocking Sally and Kyrie to the side as the two fell down, landing about ten feet below the ledge with a loud thump. She groaned internally for a moment, letting the pain of the fall dull a little.

"_Ow…whoever did that is SO going to get it-!" _Kyrie thought as she sat up, rubbing her posterior. Sally looked over from where she lay, looking at her in concern.

"Are you okay?" she whispered. She nodded, making the other girl sigh in relief. She and Sally looked up, just as the commotion started.

"Jack Skellington!" an unknown male's voice growled. This, she assumed, was the voice of Oogie Boogie.

"Oogie!" she heard Jack shout.

"You and I have a score to settle, Jack! Same goes for your little sidekicks!" the voice continued. She and Sally got to their feet, before spotting Santa as he lay on one of the conveyer belts. Kyrie pointed and Sally nodded, as she began to undo the thread on her leg.

"What are you planning to do with Sandy Claws?" Jack demanded.

"Who? Sandy Claws? I don't know what you're talking about!" Oogie shot back. Kyrie quickly helped Sally, trying her best not to look at the limb as they undid the threads that held it to her body. Once it was removed, she was surprised that it was stuffed with old leaves, instead of muscles and other things you find in a normal human leg. Holding Sally's arm over her shoulders for support, the two quietly made their way over to where Santa was, before Oogie jumped down on the conveyer belt, approaching the man as he lay there.

"And why is this roly-poly guy here? Time to go, grandpa!" he continued, forcing him to his feet. Kyrie and Sally gasped, before she helped the girl get in closer range, making it possible to throw her leg so that it landed in front of them for a distraction. Just as Oogie got Santa to the end of one of the belts, Sally threw her leg, making it land in front of them. Oogie stopped and stared at it curiously, leaning down and releasing his hold on him. This gave Santa a perfect chance to escape, Sally and Kyrie waving him over from where they stood.

"Mr. Santa Claus!" Sally called. Oogie turned his attention to the two girls, and before he could run after them, Sora and the gang stepped in and blocked him off. She stopped and handed Sally to Santa, before turning back and running to join the others, summoning her keyblades as she did so. Oogie looked at the group, realizing just how badly outnumbered he was. Currently, the odds were not in his favor.

But all that changed when he backtracked, running up the conveyer belt and jumping into a glass case, before raising it and pressing a few buttons, bringing the machine to life.

"Stop!" Donald shouted as he ran forward, running into the opening just as a blue square appeared above it. He came out on the other conveyer belt to the left of them, and looked around in confusion. Goofy gave a small wave.

"Hiya, Donald!" he called. The duck huffed and continued looking around in confusion. "Huh?" with that, he ran back through the whole, only to end where he started.

"Not again?" he cried. Kyrie sighed, this reminded her of one of Luxord's gambling tables. And the few times she actually played cards with him, she knew she had horrible luck when it came to gambling. She quickly jumped out of the way as a bomb came down, exploding in the place she had been just moments ago.

"_Man, this is annoying! I wish Luxord was here, he'd probably know how to beat this guy at gambling." _she thought as she dodged attacks. The group tried going through the holes, only to end up being separated between the three belts. Oogie laughed at their plight, pressing more buttons as presents fell onto the three belts. Sora took one look at the presents, before looking at the glass box where Oogie was standing. Picking up three of them, he threw them and caused the case to lower because of the added weight. He smirked.

"Guys, throw the presents into Oogie's box!"

"Huh? Why?"

"Trust me, just do it!"

With that, the group began to chuck every present on their conveyer belts into Oogie's glass box, causing it to crack with the added extra weight. After a few minutes, the box finally cracked, dropping Oogie onto the conveyer belt Sora was on. The others ran back into the holes and most of them except Goofy were reunited with Sora.

"Oh…uh…n-now let's not be rash-!" Oogie stammered at the group towered over him. They looked at each other and smirked as Sora and Kyrie raised their keyblades, Donald raising his wand as well. After that, it was a flurry of swings, magic, punches, and screams as they wailed on the poor sack of bugs. Oogie managed to free himself from their merciless beatings and quickly ran, getting into another glass box and starting the process over again.

It took another two times before Oogie finally gave up. Well…it was more like stop to try and close up the burst seams that were allowing his bugs to pour out. The group watched as he closed up one hole with a sigh, but then another hole burst, causing him to cry as his bugs began to leak out onto the belts.

"Oh no- Look what you've done! My bugs…! My bugs…!" he cried, his voice changing as the bugs crawled away. By the time the sack was empty, only one little green bug was yelling as it scampered, before being squashed by Donald.

"_Hmph. Serves him right. But where is Maleficent, I wonder?" _Kyrie thought as the group turned their attention to Sally and Santa. After a few minutes of talking, the group headed outside again.

"All right, Christmas is safe again!" Sora sighed in relief. Kyrie nodded as she held her arms behind her back happily, it felt good saving people.

"Perfect! I'd better get down to business!" Jack exclaimed. Donald looked at the skeleton in surprise, as well as the others. They didn't expect for Jack to hold out this long with his favor.

"Leave that to Santa!" he argued. Goofy and Kyrie nodded in agreement, Christmas was Santa's job, like Halloween was Jack's.

"Yup, you outta stick to Halloween and spooky stuff!" Goofy agreed. Sally gave a small cough from behind them, making them turn as she walked forward. She was carrying red fabric in her hands, and was looking at Jack apprehensively.

"Jack? Here it's done." She spoke meekly, handing the pumpkin king his suit. The skeleton man smiled and took the suit from her hands, unfurling it as he admired it.

"Wonderful! Why, I love it! Thank you, Sally!" he cried. With that, he began to change into his suit, causing Kyrie to cover her eyes in respect. She wasn't sure if he was stripping down or slipping the suit on over his clothes, but one can never be too careful. Once he was done, she uncovered her eyes and watched as he admired it. Sally looked over at her and gave her a pleading look, causing the girl to nod in understanding.

"Jack… do you really have to do this?" Sally asked. Jack nodded as he indicated his suit.

"But I make a splendid Sandy Claws!" he explained. Kyrie shook her head and pulled out her notebook, before tugging on the pumpkin king's sleeve.

**Jack, I think you should leave Christmas to Santa. I know you love Christmas, but how would you feel if Santa or someone else took Halloween away from you? **

Jack look disheartened at her words, before putting a hand to his fake beard.

"Well…I see what you are saying. But…" he spoke, trying to explain away. But Santa walked out of his house, as if he heard the whole conversation.

"Listen here, Jack Skellington. You saved me and Christmas as well. And for that, I'm very grateful. But please promise you won't cause any more trouble! And about that suit! Don't even think about taking over for me again!" Santa explained. Jack looked a bit modest and sheepish as he looked at the smaller, fatter man.

"I just thought you could use a little help this year, Mr. Claws. You must be exhausted from all the preparations. And… I wouldn't mind a second chance to get this Christmas thing right." He explained. Santa sighed, feeling a bit bad for the skeleton, but knowing that he was the only one who could run Christmas.

"Yes, being Santa Claus can be tiring. But let me tell you something, Jack. Seeing the happy faces of little children when they discover the presents I've brought them makes it all worthwhile, year after year after year. And you, Jack… you love to make them gasp and see them shiver with fright. What if someone tried to take all of that away from you?" he countered. Kyrie shook her head, knowing that she had just written almost the exact same thing only moments ago. But since it wasn't said aloud, of course Santa wouldn't realize this. Jack looked between her and Santa, both having pointed out the exact same thing. He would've felt awful if someone had tried to take Halloween away from him.

"We both have very important jobs to do, Jack. Mine is to take care of Christmas, and yours is to take care of Halloween. So we each have to do the very best we can. After all, you're the face of Halloween…Mr. Jack Skellington! The Pumpkin King! The Knight of Nightmares! And even though you're fascinated with Christmas, Jack… Halloween is your true specialty. Don't you see? Children rely on both of us to do our jobs. Halloween needs your attention… and I know Christmas needs mine… urgently." With that, the man turned and went inside as Jack thought about his argument. After a few minutes, he smiled.

"You're right! I am the master of terror! And if Halloween has become too routine, all I have to do is think of something new that'll really make them scream!" Jack exclaimed. Kyrie smiled and whistled, while Sora, Donald, and Goofy clapped. Suddenly, a voice called out to them, making them turn and stare in confusion.

"Jack! Oh, Jack!" the mayor cried as he ran up, a bunch of papers in his hands. "I've been looking for you everywhere! We must go over the plans for next Halloween! I can't do anything without your approval!" he explained as he stopped at Jack's feet. The skeleton nodded as he and the mayor began to walk away.

"So true!" he exclaimed. Santa came out of his house and waved to the skeleton.

"Good luck, Jack Skellington." He called. Jack waved an arm in response as he and the mayor chatted. Kyrie smiled at this, everything turned out alright.

"_And now Santa can run Christmas safely, and Jack can run Halloween. Everyone's happy." _she thought, holding her arms behind her back as she shifted from foot to foot. Sora held his arms behind his head for a moment, before speaking.

"Well, there he goes." Sora spoke. Santa nodded.

"Yes, and I've got lots of names to check and preparations to finish!" he mumbled. But out of nowhere, Jack's suit began to glow, as well as Kyrie. This made the girl sigh as she looked at her hands.

"_How many times do we have to do this? I hate lighting up like a Christmas tree!" _she thought, no pun intended.

"Jack, this is no time for joking!" the mayor cried. Sora quickly summoned his keyblade, but when he did, Kyrie's Lost Memory keyblade appeared as well. The two stared at each other, before she joined him, both pointing their keyblades at the keyhole that appeared. A beam of light shot out of both blades, and intermingled, before going through the keyhole.

"We better get going." Sora spoke, looking at Donald and Goofy. Santa quickly walked forward, holding a hand out to stop the boy.

"Before you do, Sora… I believe there's a friend of yours… who, if I recall correctly, was the one who told you there's no such thing as Santa Claus?" Santa spoke. Kyrie raised her eyebrow, who was he talking about? Sora thought for a moment, before he nodded.

"Oh, yeah… he did say that."

"Be sure to give him my very best wishes."

"I will, but…Do you know where I can find Riku?" Sora asked. The man shook his head, making the boy sigh.

"No… but don't give up! Remember, if you believe in Riku, you will find him. Just as you found me." He explained. Sora nodded in agreement.

"Right!" he agreed. Then the man turned to Kyrie.

"As for you my dear, I wish to apologize for earlier. Some of the things I had said were out of line, and I had no intentions of hurting your feelings." he apologized. Kyrie smiled and shook her head as she wrote in her notebook.

**No Mr. Santa Claus, I'm sorry. I was prepared for whatever you were going to tell me, and I shouldn't have reacted the way I did. But, can I ask you something?**

"Of course my dear, what is it?" he asked. She quickly pulled him away, trying to keep Sora and the others out of earshot.

**I want to ask if you can deliver presents to certain people, instead of giving me any. That would be my Christmas wish.**

He read her words carefully before nodding.

"Very well, who would you like me to give them to?" he asked.

**Some of the members of Organization XIII. Preferably Axel, Demyx, Xigbar, and Luxord. You can give some presents to the others, if that would make them happy.**

"Hm…well, I'll see what I can do."

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><p><strong>Aw, isn't she sweet? Well, I guess I'll just end this by wishing you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanza (I know I spelled that wrong, don't attack me), and whatever holidays you may celebrate.<strong>

**Please read and review!**


	34. Why do I have fur?

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 34

The group sighed as they walked into the Gummi ship, exhausted after their adventure through Halloween town and Christmas town.

"Man am I tired." Sora yawned as he settled into his chair. Kyrie nodded in agreement as she sat down. She felt a little strange now that her Halloween town garb was gone, but she was happy to be back in lighter clothes. Pulling out her backpack, she opened it and brought out her sketchbook and pencils.

"_I think I'll sketch something." _she thought, opening her sketchbook to a blank page. After staring at it for a few minutes, she decided to draw herself in her Halloween town outfit as well as all of the new friends she's made so far.

"_Besides, I haven't had time to sketch since Atlantica, and it'll help pass the time until we get to the next world."_

-Later-

"We're here!" Donald called as he looked back at them. Sora and Kyrie were out of their chairs instantly, the latter tucking her sketchbook and pencils into her backpack. Goofy walked over and looked at the screen curiously at the new world.

"Garwsh, what world is that?" he asked. Donald looked at the screen for a moment, before turning to them.

"It doesn't say. We'll just have to find out." he answered. The group nodded before he stood, pulling out his wand as he did so.

"I better use my magic to get us down there. It's better than finding a place to land the ship, anyways." he muttered. With a wave of his hand, they were consumed by a flash of light. Kyrie closed her eyes tightly, the light blinding her for a moment. When she opened them again, she was standing in a sort of rocky area. There were small green pools of water near the rock walls that towered over them.

"_Wait…why do I feel…furry? Did I just get smaller? And why am I walking on both my hands and feet?" _looking down at herself, she gave a mew of surprise. She was an animal!

"_Wait, how did this happen?" _she thought frantically, looking behind her and seeing a silver-white tail with black spots on it swish back and forth. She could even feel her tail as it swished, and this slightly…no…greatly freaked her out. She looked at the pools of water and decided to see what she looked like. She began to walk over, stumbling a few times, before looking into the water.

There was the face of a cat staring back, with rounded ears and spots all over its face. White hair fell over its right eye and a familiar hairclip held the rest out of its face, as well as a familiar necklace with a silver heart pendant around its neck. Brown eyes glimmered beneath the white fur, and she opened her mouth to reveal the sharp teeth and a rough pink tongue. She was silent as she tried to remember the types of animals she read about in the library back at the castle. After a moment, she knew what she was.

"_Wow…I'm a leopard!" _she grinned, the reflection grinning right back. She turned her attention away from the water, satisfied with her answer, and looked over to Sora, Donald, and Goofy. Sora was a dark brown lion with a white underbelly, his brown hair in its usual spiky fashion; Donald was a white bird with blue tail feathers and a blue sailors cap on his head, and Goofy was a green-shelled turtle with a hat on his head. Sora looked himself over before looking at them.

"Hey! Check us out." He cried, looking himself over. Kyrie giggled silently, before the sounds of footsteps echoed around them. Turning around, they were surrounded by large, ugly animals with black spots all over them. She gave a silent growl, knowing exactly what kind of animals were standing in front of them.

"_Those are Hyenas. From what I read, they're one of the deadliest animals in the savannah." _she thought as she backed up, tail fluffed out and raised as she crouched, prepared to attack. They laughed sickeningly, making her hackles raise as she bared her teeth. Sora backed up, as well as Donald and Goofy, as he eyed the group warily.

"Heartless?" he asked, looking back at them. Kyrie was quick to shake her head, but Goofy was silent as he eyed them.

"I dunno, Sora. I get the feelin' they might live here." He whispered. Donald flapped over their heads as the hyenas inched closer.

"Don't mind us! Just passing through. We won't be any trouble." Donald called, looking at them. Sora nodded as he puffed out his chest, looking tough.

"Yeah, that's right!" he agreed. One of them laughed loudly, a both male and feminine voice sounding, before stalking towards them. It began to circle them, making Kyrie hiss as she instinctively crouched in front of Sora, ready to spring. She was a little bigger than him, her shoulder blades a few inches higher than his. But she was still small compared to the hyenas.

"Don't be silly. We'd love you to stick around for lunch." The hyena spoke, making Kyrie look at it in confusion. She couldn't tell if it was male or female by the voice, but wasn't ready to get closer to see if it was. Another hyena came up from behind, and joined its companion as they circled the four.

"Um… we didn't bring anything to eat." Sora spoke, confused by its words. Its companion spoke next.

"That's not gonna be a problem!" it spoke, the voice that of a male. Goofy gulped as he inched back.

"Sora…I think we are the lunch." He spoke, his voice shaky. Donald looked around for a moment before yelling, causing Sora and Goofy to bolt. Kyrie stayed where she was, meeting a hyena as it stood over her, licking its jaws before allowing its tongue to loll out. She hissed and snarled, before instinct took over and she lashed out, her paw swiping over its cheek. It let out a shriek as Kyrie's claws dug into its skin, leaving claw marks that started to bleed.

"Whoa!" turning, she spotted Sora on the ground as the male hyena stood over him, ready to bite into him. Before she could run to him, a roar rang out, causing her ear to flick back as she looked to the entrance of the gorge. The hyena groaned.

"Man, that Scar's got the worst timing." He complied. His companion just rolled its eyes.

"Just let him roar." It, she, stated. The male shook his head as he looked at her.

"Nah, we better go see what he wants. Sounds like he's grumpy enough already." He sighed. She sighed as well and rolled her eyes.

"Fine." And with that, the hyenas scampered away, leaving Sora and the others safe and unharmed. Sora was on his feet in seconds as he looked at the entrance of the cave, completely confused at what had just happened.

"I dunno what that was about, but I'm glad it's over! Everything's harder on four legs…" he groaned, looking at his paws in disgust. Kyrie was quick to agree, it was strange being on four legs. Donald chuckled as he flew over their heads, having gotten used to flying already.

"Better start practicing!" he called. Sora nodded as he slowly walked to Kyrie's side, trying to get used to walking.

"You wanna try racing me? Maybe it'll help us get used to being on four legs." he asked. She nodded, before freezing. Looking over her shoulder, she realized that her backpack was gone.

"_Where's my backpack? Oh no…my notebook was in there. How am I supposed to communicate with them now?" _she thought as she looked around, hoping that it was just lying somewhere nearby. Sora, Donald, and Goofy watched as she looked around anxiously, her hair somewhat bristled and her tail twitching with anxiety.

"What's wrong?" he asked. She looked at him, how was she supposed to tell him that her backpack, as well as her only means of communication, was gone? Goofy looked to her back and gasped.

"Gawrsh! Sora, her backpack's gone!" he cried. Sora jumped and looked at her back, seeing only her white fur with black spots, but no backpack.

"Oh no…you can't talk now! Your notebook's gone!" he groaned. She rolled her eyes.

"_Thanks for the info, Sora." _she thought, shaking her head. The group went silent after that, not really sure what to do to solve Kyrie's situation. After a few minutes, Sora sighed.

"I guess we'll just have to do this like a game of charades. We'll just guess."

Donald and Goofy shook their heads and sighed, while Kyrie giggled silently. It would have to do.

-Later-

After practicing walking on all fours by chasing each other and trying to walk in a straight line, they decided to leave the cave and see just what kind of world they had landed on. Outside, the world look gloomy with more rock formations and surprisingly, a ton of bones littering the place. Elephant bones, to be exact.

"_Looks like a graveyard. But it's not as creepy as the one in Halloween town." _Kyrie thought as she looked around. She padded forward, only to be startled by a roar. Looking over, she and the others spotted a lioness as two large animal-like heartless chased her. She stopped and roared at it, before dodging an attack it launched at her. Sora looked at the lioness in concern, before looking at the others.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" he asked. Donald cocked his head to the side as he landed on Goofy's shell, looking at the heartless in wonder.

"Heartless?" he inquired. Kyrie rolled her eyes at the question, wasn't it obvious?

"What do we do?" Goofy whispered. Sora shrugged his shoulders and she sighed, before running in. The lioness was in clear distress, and she couldn't just stand there and watch her get hurt.

"_I'm coming!" _Kyrie thought as she ran in, flinging herself at one of the heartless, sending it into a wall as she tackled it in the side. Landing on her paws, she joined the female lioness just as Sora ran in, getting in front of them.

"Stay back!" he ordered as he crouched in front of them, hissing at the heartless. Donald and Goofy joined him as they summoned their weapons, Donald carrying his staff in his talons and Goofy carrying his shield on his shell. Sora hesitated for a moment, before his keyblade appeared between his teeth. Kyrie stared at him for a moment, confused at how he had been able to summon his keyblade in his mouth.

"_How can I get mine to appear like that? I've got no hands, only paws!" _she thought as she leaped, dodging a tackle from one of the two heartless. Sora looked at her and dropped his keyblade for a moment, only to pick it up with his tail.

"Kyrie, just think about them appearing! Pretend your mouth is your hand!" he called. She nodded and closed her eyes, imagining her mouth holding her Lost Memory keyblade and her tail holding her white Kingdom key. Seeing a flash of light and feeling a weight in her mouth and tail, she opened her eyes and saw that she was now carrying her keyblades. She smirked, holding her Lost Memory keyblade tightly between her fangs as she jumped, driving it into a nearby heartless.

"_Thanks, Sora!" _she thought as she joined them once more, getting whacked a few times because she was not used to carrying her keyblades in her mouth and tail. With the heartless gone, they regrouped.

"Definitely Heartless." Sora spoke, their suspicions confirmed. Kyrie rolled her eyes and shook her head, before noticing the lioness as she approached them.

"Thank you. You really saved me." She spoke, bowing her head. They quickly shook their heads modestly before Goofy spoke up.

"We're just glad you're okay." He spoke, a smile on his face. Sora looked around suspiciously for a few moments, before looking at her.

"Did you see any other Heartless around here?" he asked her. She raised her eyebrow at him, confused.

"Heartless… Is that what they're called? I'm not sure if there are any others… I don't usually hunt outside the Pride Lands." She explained. Donald cocked his head to the side.

"Pride Lands?" he asked. Sora quickly walked so that he was in front of her, and looked at her curiously.

"Hey, do you know if a guy named Riku is there? Or some guys in black hoods? Or maybe this really big bully named Pete?" he asked. She shook her head and he sighed sadly.

"Oh well, we might as well go take a look, anyway." He sighed. The others nodded before she growled, startling them.

"Wait… the Pride Lands are dangerous. Scar and the hyenas have made things unbearable for everyone. There's no food left. They've driven off the prey. We're about to starve." She explained. Kyrie pulled her ears back, she felt bad for the lioness. Sora must've shared the same thoughts, because he too felt bad for her.

"We can handle a little danger. You just saw us beat those Heartless, didn't you?" he explained. The lioness was quiet for a few moments before looking them over.

"I guess you're right… You could be just what the kingdom needs. Maybe you can help us." She spoke, hope in her eyes.

"Ya mean take on this Scar guy and all those hyenas?" Goofy asked her. She nodded at this, and Donald cocked his head to the side in confusion.

"Scar?" he asked, making the lioness turn her attention to him.

"He took over when our last king, Mufasa, died." She explained. Sora was silent as he thought for a few minutes, but Kyrie already had a clear idea of what she was asking of them.

"_She's asking for us to take down their king…I don't know about this. I feel bad for her, but wouldn't that make us the bad guys if we go around kicking kings off their thrones? There must be a book or code on this hero stuff." _Kyrie thought as she began to pace. The young lion's eyes widened when he finally realized the severity of just what kind of favor she was asking from them.

"So you're saying this guy is your king. You want us to take down your king?" he asked, appalled. The lioness nodded, and Sora looked back at the group, before looking at her.

"Wait just a minute." He told her. She nodded as he walked back to the others as they formed a huddle. Sora looked back and forth between his companions, not exactly sure what to decide on the whole matter.

"We can't just go around knocking kings off their thrones. Then again, if they see that I'm stronger than their king, maybe they'll ask me to be their next king!" he explained. Kyrie glared at him and thumped him in the head with her tail, making him cry out and start to rub where she whacked him with his paw. Goofy stared at the cub sternly.

"Sora…" he warned.

"I'd have to refuse, of course. Still, I'd like to see the Pride Lands, so you guys don't mind lending 'em a paw, do you?" and with that, he was off without getting anyone's opinion on the matter. They rolled their eyes.

"Uh-oh, there he goes again…"

"_You said it, Donald. Man, I wish I could talk right now…" _Kyrie thought sourly as they watched him talk to the lioness. Once they were done, she ran off, and he ran back to meet them.

"She's gonna go on ahead and tell the other lionesses. We're supposed to meet her at a place called Pride Rock."

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><p><strong>Yep. Another action-packed chapter done and done. If you want to view a pic of Kyrie in her leopard form, check it out here! http:  k-chanlovesanimexd . deviantart . com /gallery/ # /d4eqn7x (minus the spaces)**

**The reason why I chose leopard because cheetah was used and Lion is overused, so I decided to go with another african big cat.**

**Until the next chapter, see ya! ...and you know the drill.**


	35. In Search of Simba

**UGH! On another writer's block again. So it might take some time before I post another chapter.**

**Sorry for the inconvienence.**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/ some of the story (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 35

The four were quick as they made their way to Pride Rock, exiting the Elephant Graveyard and crossing the savannah. Once they got to the large rock formation, they spotted a large group of sleeping lionesses and the lioness from before as she stood next to an old baboon. She jerked her head towards Sora as they walked up, and whispered to the old baboon.

"That's him." She whispered. The old baboon nodded and walked up, scrutinizing Sora as he did so. He leaned into Sora's face, startling him as he backed up a little. Kyrie crouched ever so slightly, in case something were to go wrong and he attacked. From the corner of her eye, she could see the sleeping lionesses raise their heads and stare at the baboon with hope in their eyes.

"Um…what?" Sora asked. The baboon looked at Goofy and Donald for a moment, before looking at Kyrie. Their eyes locked for a few long moments, making the girl stiffen as he scrutinized her.

"_Why is he staring at me?" _she thought as they stared at each other. Finally, he looked away and walked back to the lioness. He began to whisper something to her, making her stiffen before slumping, causing the other lionesses to lower their heads in response. With that, he walked away, and she walked towards them.

"What was that all about?" Sora asked her. She hesitated for a moment, before sighing.

"I told Rafiki you might be able to help us force Scar and the hyenas out of the Pride Lands. But he says it won't work. You see, whoever saves the Pride Lands will be our next king…and he has to have the right qualities." She explained sadly. Sora cocked his head to the side, confused. Kyrie silently giggled at this, amused by the fact he didn't quite understand what she was talking about.

"Meaning…"

"I think she means you're not cut out for the job, Sora." Goofy added, making him sigh in disappointment.

"I'm sorry you came all this way." She spoke adamantly, making him shake his head.

"Hey, no… it's okay." He spoke. She quickly lowered her head to their level, and whispered to them.

"You'd better go before Scar finds out you're here. I'm really sorry." She whispered. With that she turned and took off, leaving the four behind. Sora turned to them and nodded, and they began their descent from the rock formation. But the sight of three familiar canines caused Kyrie to stop and hiss, her hackles rising.

"_Damn, not them again!" _she thought, glaring at them. They laughed and licked their lips as they spotted them, making Sora, Donald, and Goofy stop as well.

"Hey… a snack." The male hyena spoke, making the other male who Kyrie scratched earlier laugh as his tongue lolled out. The female shook her head, eyeing them hungrily.

"Snack? Nah, we got us a four course meal." she added. Before anyone could make a move, a loud roar rang out, causing them to look back at the rock formation. Two feline figures stood atop the formation, looking at the group below.

"Look at that, here comes Scar… the king." The male chuckled. Kyrie nearly groaned when she looked at the other feline, knowing exactly who it was because of the familiar ugly mug.

"_And Pete…"_

"And Pete!" Sora exclaimed. The first lion, Scar, jumped down agilely as he leaped from rock to rock, landing in a crouch a good twenty feet from them. Pete tried to do the same, but failed as he tripped and fell flat on his face, making them shake their heads.

"_He's so stupid." _Kyrie thought with a toss of her head. But she stopped, looking behind and realizing that the three hyenas had Donald and Goofy surrounded. She narrowed her eyes.

"_Oh no…Donald and Goofy can't outrun the hyenas like Sora and I can. We need a distraction so they can get away…" _she thought, before an idea popped into her head. Crouching, she zeroed in on one of their tails, and prepared to lunge.

"What are you doing here?"

"Aww, the cute lil'l kitty's worried about me. If I were you, I'd be more worried about my friends-" at that, Kyrie lunged, and sunk her fangs into the tail of the male hyena. He screamed loudly from the pain.

"Ow! Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! Get it off, get it off!" he cried as he began to run in circles, Kyrie latched onto his tail like a fish on a fishhook. The other hyenas began to laugh hysterically at the sight, while Donald and Goofy took the opportunity to join Sora once more. He glared at them.

"Quick, get it off! It hurts!" he screamed. The female rolled her eyes at him as she walked over.

"Oh fine, just hold still!" and before the young cub could react, she tore Kyrie from the tail by her forepaw, tearing through the skin and snapping the bone with her sharp incisors. With a toss of her head, she flung her into the rocky wall, knocking the breath out of her.

"_Ugh…" _she thought as she fell to the floor, landing with a heavy thud. She tried getting on her feet once more, but the bone was snapped and blood pooled from the bite marks embedded in her skin and fur.

"Kyrie!" Sora cried as he ran over, standing over the fallen leopard as he growled at the hyenas. Scar watched the spectacle with amused eyes before turning to the lionesses.

"Go on, ladies… you've got some hunting to do." He commanded. But they shook their heads, obviously not wanting to hurt the newcomers.

"The herds have moved on, Scar. We can't hunt in a land with no prey." The lioness they had first met protested.

"No prey? Then what do you call this?" he inquired. Sora quickly shook his head, moving himself so that he was in front of his fallen friend.

"We're not prey!"

"Oh. Nice and fresh, too." He quickly looked at Pete, who nodded.

"Well, they're all yours, Scar. But leave the white lil'l kitty to me, I've got unfinished business with her." He answered before running off. Scar nodded, glancing at Kyrie's fallen form as she hissed, trying to get to her feet once more. She managed to get on three feet, but held the wounded leg in the air, not wanting to worsen her injuries by putting weight on it. Sora looked back at her in worry, before turning his attention back to Scar.

The older lion crouched, prepared to attack Sora, before the lioness tackled him. She held him down as he struggled, before looking at them.

"Run!" she ordered. Donald and Goofy nodded as they began to run, but Sora was hesitant as he stared at Kyrie.

"But-" he started, but was cut off as she shoved him, trying to get him to run. She would be fine, she knew Pete wasn't going to eat her.

"_But Sora and the others aren't, they have to run." _she thought as she shoved him again, trying to urge him to run. The cub looked at her reluctantly, before he followed after his companions. She limped after him, but the hyenas blocked her path easily.

"You're going to pay for messing up my tail!" the male hissed, his tail bleeding from her massive bite. But before she could move, the lioness had her by the scruff of her neck as she barreled through them. Kyrie looked behind her and watching as the hyenas pursued them. The lioness caught up to Sora with ease as she ran next to them, Kyrie's scruff in her jaws as she looked at them.

"Follow me!" she cried, her voice muffled as she sped up. Sora nodded as he followed after her, Donald and Goofy right on his tail. Once they got deep into the savannah, the group stopped to take a breather, the lioness lowering her head and placing Kyrie on the ground. The trio was at the girl's side in moments, looking at the nasty wound the female hyena had given her.

"Kyrie…" Sora spoke sadly, looking at the wound in guilt. Donald began casting cure, healing the broken and torn limb as Kyrie reached out and placed her uninjured paw on his head. She gave him a hard look and a smile as he looked at her and he understood immediately.

"_Don't worry, Sora. I had to save Donald and Goofy, so I was ready for the outcome." _she thought as she stared at him.

"Right, it was to save Donald and Goofy." he murmured, reading her expression. She grinned, flashing her white canines as her black-spotted tail swished back and forth. The lioness looked at them in guilt, lowering her head.

"I'm sorry I got you involved in this. Especially since your friend got hurt." She murmured. Sora shrugged his shoulders as he looked at her.

"It's no big deal." he spoke, wanting to ease some of the guilt from her. Donald and Goofy, as well as Kyrie, nodded in agreement.

"Aw, it's not your fault. Sora wouldn't be a good king." Donald added. Sora glared at him instantly.

"Hey! I had to give it a try, right?" he cried. Goofy chuckled at this, looking at him.

"So you **did** want to be king!" he teased. Sora looked away in embarrassment as Donald finished healing Kyrie's forearm, allowing the leopard to finally get back on all four paws. She looked at her arm, not a mark was left behind. Donald was an expert when it came to magic.

"_I'll have to thank him later." _she decided. Sora quickly turned his attention back to the lioness.

"Well… you know… Uh, Nala, isn't there anybody else who could be king?" he asked sheepishly, trying to keep his dignity. Kyrie raised her eyebrow at him, he knew her name?

"_Huh. Figures he knew, but didn't tell us because of the "king" thing. It's just like with Santa Claus, he has a one-track mind." _she thought, giggling silently. The lioness, Nala, shook her head.

"There was… but he died… when he was just a cub. He was the son of our last king, Mufasa. If only Simba were here…" she explained. Sora quickly perked at this name, his ears and tail twitching as Donald and Goofy looked at her too.

"Simba? But Simba's just fine! He was fighting right beside us not that long ago." He protested. Kyrie raised her eyebrow, he knew this "Simba" too? Her suspicions of him knowing just about everybody was confirmed, in her mind at least. Nala looked at him in shock, her eyes wide as she stared at him.

"You mean Simba's alive? But where is he?" she demanded. Sora looked at Donald and Goofy for a moment, before looking at her.

"That… I don't know." He explained. She sighed sadly.

"Still…Simba's alive! I can't believe it… Please… tell me about him."

"Of course!"

"But first, we should get away from Scar. We'll go through Wildebeest Valley. He won't follow us there." She explained as she began walking, the others following on both sides of her.

"Why won't he follow us there?" Sora asked.

"He forbade anyone to go into the valley, including the hyenas. We don't know why, though." She explained. Then she turned her attention to Donald, Goofy, and Kyrie.

"I'm sorry for not introducing myself to you guys earlier, there was a lot going on. My name's Nala." she explained. Donald and Goofy nodded.

"That's okay. I'm Donald, he's Goofy, and that's Kyrie. But she can't talk, so…" he stopped, the group looking at her. She smiled sheepishly, not liking how they were staring at her. Nala nodded, some of her suspicions confirmed on the quiet cub.

"I see." she spoke. Then the three quickly changed the subject by telling her all about Simba, leaving Kyrie to listen on as she walked beside them. When they got into Wildebeest valley, there was a large crevice that separated the savannah from the valley. Nala took a few steps back and crouched, before running and clearing the gap like it was nothing. Kyrie watched in awe, before backing up like she had. Nala noticed the hesitation in Sora's face, and looked back at him.

"What's wrong?" she asked him. He looked at the crevice below, and gulped.

"We're never gonna make it." He cried. Kyrie rolled her eyes and prepared herself, if the lioness could make it, then she could make it, too. With a run, she jumped over the gap, and landed with a jolt safely on the other side. Nala gave her an approving look, before jumping back over to help Goofy and to show Sora how to properly do it.

Once she got Goofy safely to the other side, Donald flew over and Sora followed after him, landing safely and waving his paw at them in victory. Kyrie giggled silently while Nala rolled her eyes at the young cub.

"_Oh Sora…" _Kyrie thought, walking over and nudging him playfully. He nudged right back, before the group continued on. Halfway through, they finished explaining about their encounter with Simba, and Nala began her own tail about the story of his passing.

"When Simba's father, King Mufasa, died we were told that Simba died alongside him." She explained. Sora raised his eyebrow at her.

"Who told you that?" he asked. She stopped for a moment, and lowered her head. "Scar." She answered. Suddenly, they spotted the old baboon again as he walked up a rock. He looked at the once, then raised his staff.

"It is time." He spoke. Nala gasped, smiling widely as she turned to them.

"It must be Simba! Sora! Hurry!" and with that, she took off. Kyrie stared at her in confusion, but followed right after Sora, Donald, and Goofy as they began their pursuit. They followed after her thought a winding path that had sand and desert rocks scattered all over the place, but quickly lost track of her when they saw a jungle just ahead of them.

"_Man is she fast, I don't think any of us would've been able to keep up with her." _Kyrie thought as she panted, running alongside Sora as they entered the jungle. They continued going straight, hoping that they were heading in the right direction.

"Look, there's a clearing!" Sora cried. The others nodded and followed after him, entering the clearing just when they heard a loud roar. Looking over, they saw a golden lion with a red mane as he stood on a log, in a crouch as heartless began to flee.

"Simba!"

* * *

><p><strong>I don't have much to say right now. Too down in the dumps.<strong>

**Anyways, please read and review.**


	36. Going to face his past

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 36

"Simba!" Sora cried as he, Donald, and Goofy ran to the lion. But the lion crouched defensively, letting out a growl that made Sora stop in his tracks. He looked at the lion hesitantly, not quite sure why Simba was growling at them in the first place.

"I-it's me…Sora! Donald and Goofy are here, too." he stammered. Kyrie stayed as far back as she could, she didn't know a thing about this lion. The lion eyed the three suspiciously for a few moments, before his eyes widened in realization.

"Sora! Donald! Goofy!" he cried in surprise. He quickly pounced on the lion cub, forcing Sora on his back as the bigger lion nuzzled his stomach. Sora weakly pushed his paws against his face, making Simba look at him.

"What happened to you?" Simba asked. Sora looked away for a moment.

"Uh…well-" before he could speak, Kyrie walked over, nudging him and Simba with her nose. Simba looked at the young white leopard in front of him, eyebrow raised.

"Huh? Who's this?" He asked. Sora looked at her and chuckled sheepishly.

"Oh, this is Kyrie. She's been traveling with us for a while, so she's new. Oh, and she can't talk, so that's her way of introducing herself." Sora explained. Simba nodded as he nudged the black-spotted cub with his nose, making her purr as she nudged him back.

"Nice to meet you-"

"Help! Simba, Heeeelp!"

"She's gonna eat us!"

The group stopped and looked towards the jungle, Simba back on his feet in moments.

"Timon? Pumba? Something must have happened in the jungle! I have to go help my friends!" he cried. With that, he ran into the jungle, leaving the others behind. Sora took one look at the others, and they followed after him. When they got into the jungle, they spotted Simba and Nala fighting, while a Meercat and Warthog were a few feet away, cheering Simba on.

"_Wow… that's one intense catfight. No pun intended." _Kyrie thought as she watched, worried. The two lions could seriously hurt each other if no one stopped them. But it was over in moments, as Nala pinned Simba to the ground, snarling at him. He took one good look of her, and his eyes widened.

"Nala?" he asked. Nala backed off immediately, surprise on her face as she watched him get back on his feet.

"It's me! Simba." He explained. She looked at him closely. "Simba?" she asked. He nodded, making her smile in amazement.

"Simba!" she cried at the two butted heads, circling each other and batting their paws playfully. "You are alive!"

"Hey! What's goin' on here?" the meercat cried. Kyrie looked at the creature before walking up behind him, playfully battling his tail with her paw. He jumped and turned, spotting her, Sora, Donald, and Goofy, before he and his warthog companion screamed. They quickly ran over to Simba, who chuckled and shook his head at his companions.

"Don't worry. They're all friends of mine." He explained to them. The meercat looked at the group suspiciously, his eyes narrowed.

"So that means… nobody's planning to eat anybody else for lunch, right?" he asked. They shook their heads, but they weren't convinced.

"Are you sure they don't wanna eat me like I'm some kinda pig?" the warthog asked, trembling.

"We won't… but you are a pig, right?" Sora asked. The warthog quickly turned, his nostrils flared. "Call me Mr. Pig!"

At this, everyone laughed. All but Kyrie, who was clueless on why the joke was so funny. Did he want to be called Mr. Pig?

"_Their jokes are so weird…" _she decided with a shake of her head. The laughing died down and Simba lowered his head closer to the meercat's.

"Could you guys excuse us for a few minutes?" he asked. The meercat deadpanned and sighed.

"Why am I not surprised?" and with that, the two walked off. Then the meercat and warthog introduced themselves as Timon and Pumba. Sora introduced himself and the rest of the group right back, but Kyrie was lost in her own thoughts. Suddenly though, a beautiful blue butterfly caught her attention, making her tail stop as her eyes followed its movements. She felt a sudden urge to chase the butterfly and she crouched, ready to pounce. She didn't know what had come over her, but right now she was hunting that butterfly as her prey.

"_1...2...3...now!" _she thought as she pounced, just missing the butterfly by inches. She growled silently, and began chasing after it, leaving Sora and the others behind.

-Later-

"_Dammit…why was I hunting that butterfly? Now I'm lost!" _she thought as she looked around. She was deeper in the jungle now, and she had no idea where she was. She had been chasing the butterfly until dusk, when she realized what time it was. Deciding to head back, she found herself lost in the unfamiliar surroundings and had been wandering around since then.

"_Stupid cat instincts…always getting me into trouble. And what's worse is that I never caught that butterfly…" _she continued, padding through the underbrush. Suddenly, a sound stopped her. Hackles raised, she turned slowly and sighed.

"You are lost, are you not?" the old baboon asked as he walked up from behind her. She nodded, slightly freaked out by the appearance of the monkey. He nodded, and walked forward until he was right beside her.

"Come, I'll show you the way." he spoke. She nodded as they began walking, the baboon seeming to know the way despite not being in the jungle before. They were quiet as they walked, and soon the surroundings became familiar.

"You are lost, in more ways than one. You must look for your light and follow it, for it will lead you to your destiny. Your place in the circle of life." the baboon explained as they walked. Kyrie looked at him, confusion clear in her features.

"_What's he talking about? My light?" _she thought.

"Your light will be the person who you cherish more than anything else. That special someone is your light." he continued. She nodded, still not understanding what he meant. But soon, she knew where he was taking her.

"_He's good." _Kyrie thought as she found herself at the Oasis, Simba standing with Sora, Donald, Goofy, Timon, and Pumba. She turned to thank him, but he was gone. _"Wait, where did he go? He was here just a second ago!" _she thought, looking around frantically.

"I'm going back to face my past. I could use your help." She heard Simba explain to them.

"He really is a king…" she heard Timon say in awe. Sora looked over and spotted her.

"Kyrie! Where've you been, we were worried sick about you!" he cried as he ran over, tackling her. She gave him a sheepish smile as he patted his back with her paw. After all was said and done, the group began to make their way back to the Pride lands.

-Later, the Savannah-

"Wait a minute. We're gonna fight your uncle for **this**?"

"Yes, Timon. This is my home." Simba answered as they looked over the barren landscape. They had caught up with Nala and joined her as they made their way back, taking out heartless as they did so.

"Well, if that's your answer, we're with you 'til the end." Timon spoke. The rest of the gang nodded, they weren't going to allow Simba to do this on his own.

"Thanks." and with that, he took off to Pride Rock. Sora and Kyrie were right behind them, looking at each other grimly.

"Get ready for a fight, Kyrie." he warned her. She nodded, looking ahead as they followed the future king.

"_Aren't we always?" _she thought, a smirk on her face. When they got to Pride Rock, the expression on Scar's face was priceless.

"You- you can't be- you're supposed to be dead!" he stammered.

"Simba's the rightful king." Nala declared, her head held high as the other lionesses gathered.

"The choice is yours, Scar. Either step down or fight." Simba ordered. Scar backed up as Simba approached him, getting backed into a corner as he did so.

"Must this all end in violence? I'd hate to be responsible for the death of a family member, Simba…" he spoke, narrowing his eyes accusingly at Simba. Kyrie caught this and looked at the lion in confusion, what did he mean? Did Simba kill someone?

"I've put the past behind me." Simba growled. But Scar simply smirked, looking at Nala and the other lionesses.

"But what about your faithful subjects? Have they?" Scar asked. Nala and the other lionesses looked to Simba.

"Simba, what's he talking about?" she asked, confused. He looked down in regret as Scar began to circle him, making Kyrie growl as she took a step forward.

"Go on. Tell them who's responsible for Mufasa's death!" Scar urged. Simba sighed sadly.

"I am." He answered. The others straightened in surprise, except for Kyrie who knew something was up. She knew Simba wouldn't kill someone purposely. Something was amiss.

"_But what?" _she thought. Scar began to back Simba up the ledge of Pride Rock.

"He admits it! Murderer! If it weren't for you, Mufasa would still be alive. Do you deny it?"

"No! But it was an accident!"

"You're in trouble again. But this time, Daddy isn't here to save you. And now everyone knows why!" Simba slipped, and found himself holding on for dear life. Scar smirked, leaning in and whispering something into the lion's ear, causing Simba's eyes to widen before he roared, pulling himself up and tackling the older lion. He pinned the older lion, holding his paw against his throat as he growled at him.

"Murderer! Tell them the truth!" he roared. Scar gasped for breath before glaring at the younger male.

"Alright, alright! I did it." he whispered. Simba growled.

"So they can hear you."

"I…killed…Mufasa!" Scar growled in hate. Instantly, the hyenas lunged and tackled Simba, throwing him off of Scar. The lion retreated, smirking back at Simba's fallen form as the hyenas attacked him.

"Simba!" Sora cried as he, Nala, the lionesses, and Kyrie rushed in, biting and clawing at the hyenas until they were all off of him. The old baboon joined in as well, using kung-fu to take out a good portion of the hyenas. Simba watched with wide eyes as they fought, before Sora turned to him.

"You go get Scar, we'll handle these guys."

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><p><strong>Alright, one more chapter to go and we'll be halfway through the story. Whoo!<strong>

**Please read and review.**


	37. The Fall of Scar

**Happy New Years, guys!**

**Sadly, I have a case of the stomach flu so I might not update for a few days. Or longer. Heh eh...sorry!**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 37

"You go get Scar, we'll handle these guys." Sora cried. The lion nodded as he ran inside the cave, leaving the group to deal with the hyenas. Kyrie smirked, summoning her keyblades and knocking away the mutts with each stroke, hearing Timon and Pumba behind her as they yelled and shouted, pummeling hyenas and sending them flying. But the three lead hyenas, Banzai, Shenzi, and Ed, cornered them and chased them into the cave.

Kyrie turned and growled, following after them with Sora, Donald, and Goofy right behind her. Once inside, Sora summoned his keyblade and went after Banzai, while Kyrie targeted Shenzi. Donald and Goofy dealt with Ed, since he was the dumbest and weakest of the bunch.

"_Shenzi's gonna pay for what she did to me earlier-!" _Kyrie thought as she tackled the bigger animal, making her shriek in pain. The canine turned and began snapping her incisors at her, causing Kyrie to jump out of the way to avoid her massive jaws. But she was quicker than the larger hyena, and she slammed her keyblades into her side once more, flinging her out of the cave. Kyrie stopped, panting as she dropped her keyblades. But she was pleased, to say the least.

"_That's what you get for messing with me!" _she thought with a toss of her head and a huff, a smirk on her face. She turned and spotted Banzai and Ed as they ran out of the cave, whimpering and covered with wounds and bruises. Sora, Donald, Goofy, Timon, Pumba, and Nala approached her and regrouped.

"Where's Simba?" Sora asked, looking around for him and Scar. Nala, who had shown up only minutes ago, looked towards a rocky path that resembled stairs.

"He went up there. Hurry, Sora!" she answered. He nodded as he, Donald, Goofy, and Kyrie ran up the path, concerned about the lion's safety. Once they got to the top, they watched as Simba and Scar squared off, growling at each other as they circled one another. Donald looked on in worry, before trying to fly in.

"Simba!" Donald cried, but Sora quickly held up a paw, stopping the duck in his tracks.

"This is his fight, Donald." Sora spoke, staring at the two lions. He looked so serious, that it actually surprised Kyrie. But she quickly turned her attention back to the two fighting lions, concern written on her features.

"_C'mon Simba…c'mon…" _she thought, watching as the lions roared and scratched at each other. But Simba quickly got the upper hand, throwing a punch and sending Scar over the ledge, to his death. Kyrie flinched, looking away as they heard Scar cry out as he plummeted. Sora and the others walked up to the victor, before he turned to them. Before a word was said, Kyrie stiffened.

"If you think you've won-" Pete started as he came up from behind them. But that wasn't what had made Kyrie stiffen. Ignoring Pete as he began to rant, she looked towards the ledge where Scar had fallen from, her hackles raised as she gnashed her teeth anxiously.

"_This darkness- it couldn't be-!" _she thought as she stared, but after a moment, a familiar rusted-colored blur shot up, landing gracefully on his paws as darkness enveloped him. Scar sneered at them from where he stood, now completely covered in a dark aura. She growled silently.

"_He's a heartless. Dammit!" _she thought, crouching and summoning her keyblades; one between her teeth and the other her tail as it wrapped around the handle. Simba and Sora growled as well, crouching as the latter summoned his keyblade between his teeth.

"Sorry Simba but this is our fight too, now!" Sora cried. Simba nodded in understanding, with Scar now a heartless, Sora and the gang were now as needed in this fight as Simba. Scar chuckled darkly, not once saying a word, before he lunged. Donald and Goofy barely dodged his attack in time as he landed in the spot they had been previously. Kyrie jumped back, pushing herself into a leap with all four legs, and swinging the keyblade in her jaws, the Lost Memory keyblade, down in a downwards sweep. But Scar was fast as he jumped, avoiding her attack.

Simba came from his right while Sora came from his left, both surrounding him. Kyrie was in front of him, and kept him there as Sora and Simba attacked, dealing heavy blows to the newly formed heartless. He gave a roar, and sparks began to radiate from his body.

"Run!" Simba cried as the lion began to run around in circles, sparks emitting from his body and shocking whoever came near. Goofy cried out in pain as he got zapped, not able to get out of the way in time. Kyrie jumped, just barely missing him as he ran past.

"_How can we stop him?" _she thought, running to catch up with Sora. He looked at her in concern, running to meet her as he did so.

"Are you okay-" he started, but stopped when Scar turned, the two cubs in his sights. Sora gasped, stiffening just as Kyrie was about to bolt. She stopped, jumping in front of him and facing the lion head on, closing her eyes.

"_Shield!" _she thought, imagining a familiar round shape in her mind. Opening her eyes, the shield had appeared again, just a Scar ran into it. He gave a roar of pain as he was thrown back, Simba and the others taking this chance to deal more blows to the fallen lion. Within minutes, the fight was over as the aura disappeared from Scar's body and the lion fell, his body laying limp on the rocky surface. Kyrie looked away, feeling her body shudder in revulsion.

"_Ugh…" _she thought, closing her eyes tightly. She hated doing this, ending the lives of their enemies. First Shan-Yu, then Barbossa, now Scar. How many more people were they going to cut down before they achieved peace?

Simba looked at the body for a moment, before turning and walking down the path that led to the cave. Sora and the others followed, with Kyrie taking one last look at the corpse as they went. When they made it out, Simba walked up the ledge that towered over the Pride lands, and let out a roar. The lionesses roared with him, and the chorus of roars continued. Sora and Kyrie smiled as the king finally took back his throne, before their keyblades appeared unexpectedly. Looking up, a light shot out of the sky and formed a keyhole, meaning that a new path was opened.

Balancing their keyblades on their tails, they locked the keyhole and it disappeared in a flash of light.

"Hey, what's with the light show?" Timon asked as they dispelled their keyblades. The two looked at each other, before looking at him.

"We have to say goodbye for a little while." Sora explained. Pumba nodded as he looked at Simba, who was still standing over the ledge looking down at his subjects.

"I'll run and tell Simba." But Goofy quickly shook his head, stopping him.

"Aw, he's prob'ly busy. Just tell him we'll be back soon." He added. Timon sighed.

"Oh, that's right… he's king now. He's gonna be so busy he'll prob'ly forget all about his two best buddies."

"Well, you always got Hakuna Matata, right?" Sora asked, smirking. Pumba shrugged his shoulders.

"Guess so."

"Whaddaya mean, 'Guess so'? What if he forgets to tell the carnivores who we are? One look at you, and you're a pig roast."

"That's _Mister_ Pig Roast." Donald added, teasing them.

"Same thing! And I'm not sticking around to be anybody's pork dinner!" Pumba cried as he turned tail and ran. Timon ran after the warthog, waving his arms in the air as he did so.

"Pumba!" he cried. Sora and the others watched them go, before he smiled.

"You can never forget your true buddies." He murmured, looking at Donald and Goofy. Kyrie looked at him and felt a pang in her chest. She knew exactly what he meant. Looking into the distance, the scenery changed as she pictured three people sitting on the edge of the Station Tower in Twilight town, eating sea-salt ice-cream as they cracked jokes and laughed with her. She smiled a little, a small tear forming at the corner of her eye at the bittersweet memory. The tear dropped, three names echoing in her thoughts.

"_Roxas…Xion…Axel…"_

-Later-

"Ah…it's good to be back on two legs again." Sora sighed as they got back onto the ship, now in human form. Kyrie nodded, stretching her arms and glad to feel her fingers again. Looking behind her, she gasped when she saw her backpack on her back. Sliding it off, she hugged it to her chest.

"_I have it back! Now I can talk to them again!" _she thought happily. Pulling out her notebook, she quickly nudged Sora and made the boy look over.

"Hey, you got your notebook back!" he exclaimed in surprise. She nodded before writing.

**Yes, and now I have a few things to say…Do you know how hard it is not being able to say anything? I can't tell you how many times I wanted to claw myself because how annoyed and mad I was to have you three guess what I was trying to say!**

The boys took a few steps back, surprised at the written outburst.

"Gawrsh, we're sorry Kyrie. We didn't mean to make ya mad." Goofy apologized. She paused and smiled, quickly shaking her head.

**Don't worry about it. I just had to get that off my chest. It's hard not being able to talk, and once you lose your one means of communication, it gets even harder.**

"It has to be, since you can't talk at all. Hopefully you don't lose it again." Sora spoke, agreeing with her. Donald and Goofy nodded as well, also in agreement.

"Now let's see…" Donald spoke, quickly taking his place at the wheel and looking at the monitor to see where they were going next. Sora and Goofy came up from behind him, looking at the screen in curiosity.

"Where do we go next, Donald?" Sora asked. Donald looked the map over before pointing.

"Twilight town!"

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><p><strong>Oh gosh...I'm warning all of you now, the next couple of chapters are gonna be full of D-R-A-M-A.~ Especially with Axel and Kyrie's current relationship. Stay tuned to see what happens next!<strong>

**Also, you all know the drill! R & R! XD**


	38. Back in Twilight Town

**Okay, sorry for the wait! I'm getting over my flu so expect more things from me!**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 38

"_Wow…this place hasn't changed one bit." _Kyrie thought as she, Sora, Donald, and Goofy walked through the Tram Common in Twilight town. After the long drive on the ship, the group was eager to get out and explore the familiar surroundings, as well as meet up with old friends.

"Gawrsh, I wonder how Hayner an' the others are doin'." Goofy spoke as they looked around. Kyrie stopped and stared at them, they knew Hayner, Pence, and Olette?

"_How do they know them?" _was her only thought as he reached out to stop them, only to have a familiar voice cry out in alarm.

"H-Help! The Sandlot! It's Seifer!" she turned, spotting Vivi as he ran past, waving his arms frantically as he did so. "Somebody please help us!"

"_Huh? What's-" _Kyrie thought as she watched the young boy run off, running and screaming as he did so. Then she, Donald, and Goofy looked at Sora, who was also watching the young boy in confusion.

"Sounds like we got trouble!" he exclaimed, making Kyrie groan internally. She didn't like Seifer, and knew that he hated her with a passion. But she couldn't deny the young man help when he needed it the most, what would that make her? No better than him.

"C'mon!" Donald cried, the group heading into the direction of the Sandlot. Kyrie stayed close behind them, making sure that they knew where they were going. Once they got to the Sandlot, they spotted Seifer, Fuu, and Rai lying helplessly on the ground as dusks and berserkers surrounded them. Kyrie and Sora were the first to jump in, Sora to protect them and Kyrie to get them as far away as possible.

"We'll take it from here!" he exclaimed, summoning his keyblade. Kyrie knelt down beside Seifer, taking his arm and wrapping it around her shoulders as she started to stand, supporting his weight. He looked at her and his eyes narrowed.

"It's you-" he started, but stopped when she looked at him. Her stern look silenced his venomous words as she proceeded to help him walk over to the benches against the wall, sitting him there before going back for his companions. Once she got Fuu and Rai over to where she placed Seifer, she went back to help Sora.

"_He'll need it, the berserkers don't mess around when it comes to finishing the job." _she thought, summoning both keyblades and running to Sora's side as the boy was thrown back by a berserker. She quickly jumped, getting behind the large nobody and spun, slashing both keyblades through it. It vanished immediately, Sora getting to his feet as it did so.

"Is that the last one?" he panted. They looked behind them to see Donald and Goofy having problems of their own as they each were cornered by a berserker. The two keyblade wielders ran back to assist the two, Kyrie going to Donald and Sora going to Goofy. The berserker Donald was facing was just bringing its weapon over its head before Kyrie joined in, getting in front of him and holding her keyblades up to block the blow. She pushed the large nobody back, and Donald followed with a thundara spell, effectively knocking it off its feet.

She followed that up with an downwards sweep, making it disappear in seconds. Looking over, the two watched as Sora and Goofy tag-teamed, sending the berserker flying as Goofy swung Sora around like a chain. Once it was gone, the fight was over.

"_Man…berserkers are tough. Just like Saix." _she thought as she panted, wiping some sweat from her brow. She grinned at Sora, Donald, and Goofy, making them grin back in victory.

"Impressive."

Stiffening, she turned and spotted a hooded figure at he clapped at them, though it was vastly different from Axel's clap when they were in the virtual Twilight town. This one was more subtle, and more mocking than his. But considering who the figure was, Kyrie wasn't surprised.

"_Saix…" _she thought, taking a step back. She knew what harm this man could cause, and was worried for both herself and her companions. She shifted, inching closer to Sora in case he decided to attack them.

"By the way, have you seen a man named Axel? I expect he's here somewhere." Saix asked. Sora looked at Kyrie, the name ringing a bell. But he looked back at the man.

"Like I care." He shot back. But the man ignored his outburst, and continued talking.

"You see, Axel's no longer acting in our best interest." He continued, but this time he looked directly at Kyrie as he said this. Her body went rigid, why was he looking for Axel? To destroy him?

"Is he with the Organization, too?" Goofy asked, making Saix look at him. He nodded.

"Yes."

"You havin' a fight?"

"Not a very organized Organization…" Sora spoke, getting into an attack position. Kyrie followed suit, at this moment, she wanted nothing more than to silence his venomous words.

"Don't let your guard down. Axel will stop at nothing to turn you into a Heartless." Saix spoke, pointing at Sora. She stared at the Luna Diviner in shock, Axel would do that?

"_No…he couldn't. Axel would never do something like that! Never!" _she thought, clenching her fists tightly. Sora rolled his eyes, glancing at Kyrie from the corner of his eyes when he heard her gasp, and watched as her fists trembled. He then looked back at Saix.

"Gee, thanks for looking out for us, mister. But I'm sure we can take care of ourselves just fine." He spoke in a sarcastic tone, not taking heed of the man's words. He nodded.

"Glad to hear it. Axel aside, it would break our hearts to hear something happened to you." He paused for a moment. "Either of you." He corrected with disdain, looking at Kyrie as well. Donald raised his eyebrows at him.

"Hearts? You don't have any hearts!" he exclaimed. Kyrie winced at his words, they rang true. Nobodies didn't have hearts, and it saddened her that Axel, Demyx, and Xigbar didn't have hearts. Saix nodded, reaching up and pulling down his hood, to reveal blue hair, yellow eyes, and an "X" shape scar in the center of his face.

"True, we don't have hearts. But we remember what it was like. That's what makes us special." He explained. Goofy stared at him blankly just as a corridor opened behind him.

"Whaddaya mean?" he asked. Saix looked at him.

"We know very well how to injure a heart. That is what I mean." he answered, but he turned his gaze to Kyrie, making her stiffen.

"Sora, girl, you just keep on fighting those Heartless." Saix ordered. Sora looked at him before looking at the others.

"Let's jump in after him!" he whispered. Kyrie raised her eyebrows, jump in after him?

"How come?" Donald asked.

"I'm not sure, but maybe he'll lead us to the Organization's world." He explained. But Saix smirked, having heard their entire conversation.

"Don't be reckless. Do you want to end up like Riku?" he spoke. Kyrie and Sora looked at him in confusion.

"What?" he cried. But Saix simply bowed and walked backwards, letting the darkness of the portal consume him.

"Hey, wait!" but the corridor vanished, taking Saix with it. They stood there silently for a moment, before Sora took a step forward.

"What did he mean, end up like Riku?" he asked. Kyrie looked at him sympathetically and took a step forward, placing a hand on his shoulder. He looked at her and she gave him a reassuring smile, making him smile right back.

"Hey, how 'bout you get out of my town now? You've caused enough trouble. Especially you." They turned and looked at Seifer as he pointed at Kyrie. She glared at him, but couldn't really blame him for not liking her. Would you like someone after they punched you in the gut? Donald scowled.

"Have it your way! C'mon, guys." He huffed. The group nodded as they began walking away.

"Hold it." Seifer said. They turned to look at him in confusion.

"Make up your mind!" Donald shouted. But Seifer ignored him, and instead held up a blue trophy that had four gems on it.

"This goes to the strongest guy in Twilight Town." He spoke, looking at Sora. The boy pointed at himself in confusion, and he nodded.

"Thanks, but… we don't really need it." He explained, his face a little red with embarrassment. But Seifer quickly ran forward, shoving the trophy in Goofy's hands before shoving his hands into his pockets and walking past him. Fuu and Rai followed after him, and the three were soon gone.

"_Wow. Seifer was actually nice for once." _Kyrie thought as Sora and Donald stared at the trophy in Goofy's arms.

"Oh! Sora!"

They turned, to see Pence as he approached. Kyrie smiled brightly, and the boy stopped when he noticed her.

"Huh? Kyrie? Oh man, it's great to see you!" he cried, holding his arms out. She nodded as she hugged him, Sora staring between the two in confusion.

"Pence? You two know each other?" he asked. Pence nodded as he turned to look at him.

"Yeah. We met awhile back, when she first appeared in Twilight town. She didn't know who she was." then he looked at her. "So, did you find anything? We were worried when you disappeared." he asked. She shook her head, making him sigh.

"Man, that stinks." then he paused for a second. Suddenly, his eyes widened and he looked at Sora.

"Oh, Sora! Do you know a girl named Kairi?" he asked. Kyrie stared at him with wide eyes, Kairi? How does Sora know Kairi? She looked at Sora as the boy jerked in surprise, his face lighting up at the name.

"K-Kairi? I sure do!" he answered, stammering as he did so.

"Then you better come to the station!" and with that, he ran off. Sora and the others were about to follow, before Kyrie stopped them. Whipping out her notebook, she began to write.

**Wait, you all know Kairi? Tell me, how do you know her?**

"Huh? You know Kairi, too?" Sora asked in surprise. She nodded and he placed his hand against his chin.

"I've known Kairi for a long time. She appeared on the islands when we were kids, and we've been best friends ever since. So how do you know her?" he explained. She nodded and wrote more before showing them.

**I met her awhile back on my travels. I spent some time with her, and we became friends. **

"Wow…wait! We need to catch up with Pence, we'll talk more later!" and with that, he was off. Donald and Goofy were right behind him, and Kyrie followed suit. Many thoughts swirled inside her mind as she followed them, but one stood out from the rest.

How did Kairi get here, and why?

* * *

><p><strong>Uh-oh. There goes Saix, spouting off nonesense.<strong>

**Saix: How am I spouting nonesense? It is simply the truth.**

**Me: To me and probably half the fanbase, it was nonesense.**

**Saix:...Hmph. Axel fangirl.**

**Me: And proud of it. But I'm not a yaoi one, got it memorized?**

**Axel: Wait, you're not?**

**Kyrie: *rolls eyes at the four before turning to the audience and holding out her notebook* **_Don't mind them. B__e sure to stop in on the next chapter. More drama will be on the way as we discover why Kairi is in Twilight town! And also, for the sake of the author, please read and review._


	39. Kairi's Been Kidnapped

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 39

Kyrie was silent as the group ran through Twilight town, trying to find their way to the Station tower in hopes of finding Kairi. But Kyrie wasn't thrilled at the prospect of seeing Kairi again, because for some odd reason, she had a feeling of dread welling deep inside her chest.

"_But why? Why do I feel like something is terribly wrong?" _she thought as she ran. But she cast her thoughts aside, now was not the time for worrying about nothing. She was going to see Kairi again, after all of this time.

This pleased her, as she followed after Sora and the others.

-Later, the Station-

"He-ey!" they looked up and spotted Hayner and Olette as they ran to meet them. Sora stopped and waited until they stopped in front of him, before bombarding them with questions.

"Hey, so how do you guys know Kairi?" he asked. They looked at each other before explaining how they met Kairi. The group listened intently, especially Sora and Kyrie, as they told their story.

"Kairi was really here?" Sora spoke, interrupting their story when Kairi's name came up. Kyrie had the urge to hit them, but held herself back as Hayner nodded.

"Yeah. And… she said she was looking for you." He answered.

"Tell me where she is!" he begged. Hayner and Olette looked at each other hesitantly, before looking back at him.

"Well…" and they continued their story. Kyrie felt her heart drop as they continued, describing as a man with red, spiky hair came and abducted the girl. She knew who it was, just by the description.

"_Axel…no…" _she thought, holding her hands tightly to her chest. Sora listened, a dejected look on his face as the story came to an end. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a star charm, making Kyrie look at it in confusion.

"_Sora was carrying a Wayfinder, too?" _she thought, staring at the star. It looked like it was made from seashells, like the one Kairi drew for her when they met back on the Destiny Islands.

"Ya think it mighta been Axel?" she heard Goofy ask from behind. She didn't dare look at them, keeping her eyes solely on Hayner and Olette. The thought of Axel being responsible for the whole ordeal tore at her inside, as she clenched her fists tightly.

"Sorry…" Hayner said gruffly. Sora looked at them and forced a smile, making Kyrie's heart throb with guilt.

"Hey, it's not your fault. C'mon, cheer up!" he spoke encouragingly. But neither teen looked up, making the boy slump and his smile vanish.

"Like I can even say that…"

"_Oh Sora…" _Kyrie thought as she stared at him, this was the first time she ever saw him so sad, so dejected. It pained her. And what was worse was that she knew who had kidnapped her, but she couldn't tell him that. She just couldn't.

Walking forward, she placed a hand on his shoulder, making him turn to her as she placed the other on his head, ruffling his hair a little. He gave her a small smile, before looking down again. Then, out of the blue, he jumped.

"I gotta help Kairi!" he exclaimed, making Goofy jump. The trophy he still carried fell to the ground, making the jewels that it held pop off and roll on the ground. Three of them rolled to Hayner, Pence, and Olette, and Sora knelt down and picked up the fourth one that had rolled to his foot.

Inspecting it for a moment, he held it up in the sun as it glimmered. Goofy pulled out a pouch, and plucked out a similar blue jewel and followed his lead, Hayner, Pence, and Olette doing the same. Kyrie and Donald looked at the others in confusion, just wondering exactly what they were doing.

"_Why are they holding the jewels into the sun?" _she thought. But she glanced back at Sora, and what she saw made her gasp. Sora wasn't standing there anymore, but in his place stood Roxas as he held the jewel, staring at it with a soft expression on his face.

"_R-Roxas?" _she thought, tears pricking at her eyes. She blinked, trying to clear them away, and opened her eyes to see Sora standing there once more. She felt her heart drop as she watched Donald and Goofy try and snap Sora out of his trance. The boy jumped, looking at them in surprise.

"Huh? What…?" he asked. They simply shook their heads before the jewel emitted a flash of light, Kyrie glowing once more as well. His keyblade and hers appeared once more, and the two unlocked it. Once it disappeared, the light her body emitted did as well, making Hayner, Pence, and Olette stare at her in confusion.

"What just happened?" Pence asked, poking Kyrie's arm like she was some toy that would light up if you touched it. Sora looked at the sunset for a moment, before answering.

"A new road is open. And Kairi and Riku are waiting somewhere along it." He answered. Olette nodded.

"You'd better hurry, then." She urged.

"You comin' back?" Hayner asked. Sora nodded, clenching his fist.

"Promise!" he answered. The three nodded before looking at Kyrie.

"Kyrie, are you going with him?" Pence asked. She was silent before nodding and pulling out her notebook.

**Sadly, yes. It was great to see you all again, but I have to follow him. I'm still searching for my memories, and I think that following Sora will help me. I promise, we'll visit again soon, so don't worry.**

Olette nodded, walking forward and hugging the girl.

"Okay, good luck. And I hope that you find what you're looking for." she spoke, smiling. Hayner nodded.

"And don't go disappearing on them like you did us. Scared the crap out of us there." he joked. Kyrie nodded and with that, they ran off and made their way back to the Gummi ship.

-Meanwhile, Axel-

"I only wanted to find my best friend…" Axel spoke to the red-haired girl in front of him. She looked at him for a few moments, her expression unreadable. This man had just swiped her from Hayner, Pence, and Olette, only to bring her to this void for no reason. Then she demanded why he kidnapped her, only to have him say that he wanted to find his best friend. It was like her and Sora, she only wanted to leave the islands to find him and bring him back home.

"Axel, I've misjudged you." she spoke suddenly, making him jump slightly. She turned, holding her arms behind her back as she turned her head back to look at him.

"It seems that out goal is the same." she continued, smiling at him. He stared at her with wide eyes, her smile was like Kyrie's. So sweet and sincere, the kind of smile that sent a strange, warm feeling into his chest.

"_She's so naïve…doesn't she know she's going to be…" _he thought, looking at the girl in front of him with another strange feeling welling up in his chest. "Is it?" he asked. She nodded.

"Yes. Positive." She paused for a moment, before her smile brightened.

"Hey! What's the name of your friend?" she asked. He was silent for a moment, debating whether or not to tell her. After a moment, he gave in.

"His name is Roxas. Got it memorized?" at this, she gasped.

"Roxas? I've met him before!" she cried. He looked at her in confusion, when had she met Roxas? She began to babble about how she first met him, but he paid no attention to her words. The way she brightened up, the way that she smiled…it reminded him so much of Kyrie when she was excited or happy.

"You're a lot like her…"

"Huh? Like who?" she asked, startling him.

"_Crap, did I say that out loud?" _he thought, staring at Kairi as she stared back curiously. He gave a sigh, he might as well answer her.

"Kyrie. You remind me of her." she stopped and stared at him with wide eyes, making him look at her like she was crazy.

"Wait, Kyrie? You know her, too?" Kairi asked. He stared at her for a few moments, before he finally answered.

"Yeah, she's my best friend. Wait, how do you know Kyrie?"

"She came to the Destiny Islands a few months ago when I met her. I'm actually looking for her, too. I have something to tell her." Kairi explained. Axel nodded, he should've guessed as much.

"What do you have to tell her?"

"I have to tell her that I finally remembered her! The reason why we felt nostalgia when we first met, it's because when we were younger, we were best friends. I have to tell her, because maybe that can bring her memories back." she explained. He was silent, they were friends? For some reason, he didn't like it that they were friends.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a berserker showed up and slammed its claymore into Axel's head, sending him flying.

"_Oh crap…" _he thought as he hit the ground, his head throbbing painfully as his vision blurred, making it difficult for him to see.

"Axel!" Kairi cried, trying to go to his aid. But a dark corridor stopped her in her tracks, as a man with blue hair stepped out.

"It ends here now, Axel. Give the princess to me." he began, walking towards the fallen man. Axel glared at him and coughed as he tried to get back on his feet, blood dripping down his temple as he did so. But he fell back down, his body not responding properly.

"I've already seen through you. Don't interfere with the plans because of your desire." he continued. The nobody grabbed Kairi and held her against her will as the blue-haired man took another step closer to Axel's fallen form.

"What are you going to do?" she demanded as she struggled. The man looked at her, his expression stoic as he did so.

"If you stay with this man, he'll only bring you trouble. He is going to use you in order to turn Sora into a heartless!" he explained. Kairi paused, but quickly shook her head.

"You're lying!" she spat. But he looked away and waved his hand at the nobody holding her.

"Take her away."

"No! Let me go!" she cried as she struggled. Out of nowhere, a familiar red chakram slashed through the nobody's head, making it disappear instantly. Axel smirked, his arm holding himself up while the other was stretched out, an indication as to where the chakram came from. Saix scoffed.

"Hmph, even if it's a traitor…it's a pity that I have to get rid of you. Especially since you are the only thing keeping that girl in line and holding her loyalty to the organization." he spoke, summoning his claymore. Axel gasped, did he mean Kyrie?

"What do you mean? Are you using me as blackmail to hold her freedom hostage?" he exclaimed. But Saix ignored him, holding his claymore in an attack position.

"However, you still have to disappear!" and he attacked. Axel was on his feet in seconds, holding off Saix as the man swung his claymore back and forth. Axel growled, parrying his blows as the two fought.

"Tsk, if you feel that it's a pity, then just let me go and pretend you never saw me!" he shouted. He didn't know what Saix and Xemnas said to Kyrie that day when they sent her to accompany Sora, but he knew that if his life was in the balance, she would've done anything to keep him alive. Even if it meant working for the organization.

"I'm afraid I…can't…do…that!" Saix roared, finally unleashing into berserker mode. Axel grimaced, this was what he didn't want to happen.

"Disappear!" Saix roared as he lunged, slamming his claymore over and over again into Axel as the pyro tried in vain to stop the blows.

"_Dammit!" _he thought as Saix slammed him into the ground, a blow to the abdomen knocking the breath out of him. He was on his feet in seconds however, and glared at his ex. best friend. His body was battered and bloody, and he was losing strength, fast.

"Going berserk is breaking the rules!" he growled, opening a portal behind him. If he didn't escape now, Saix was going to destroy him.

"You're going to escape? In that case, you might as well fade into the shadows! To nobodies, there is no such thing as friendship! What you're searching for is only an illusion caused by the memories of those around you, as well as that girl!" Saix roared. Axel looked down at the floor for a moment, indecision clear on his scratched up features.

"The way you act, your so called "feelings" for that girl, are fake! She can never care for you, and you can never care for her! It's all a lie!" he continued. This stung Axel.

"_It's…" _he thought, imagining her face in his mind. He knew he could never feel without a heart. So, did his words ring true, then?

"Axel!" he looked over, seeing Kairi run to him as a berserker chased after her.

"What he said, is it a lie? What about Kyrie? What's going to happen to her?" she cried as the berserker caught her. He looked at the girl once more, before turning away. The darkness of the corridor began to consume him as he looked back at her, for a moment seeing Kyrie instead of Kairi. She was smiling at him, holding her hands behind her back like she always did. But he shook his head, erasing her image, and looked at the girl as she stared at him helplessly.

"I'm sorry…" and with that, he was gone.

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><p><strong>...Okay, some of this chapter I got out of the KH 2 manga, and the rest from the game. And wow! This story has 180 reviews! 180! *faints*<strong>

**Axel: *pokes me with a stick* she dead?**

**Kyrie: *snatches stick from Axel before writing* **_She isn't dead, Axel! She just passed out from happiness. And quit poking her with a stick, she won't write more if you do!_

**Sora: Wait, she won't write more? Noo!**

**Kairi: ...Sora, she means that if Axel keeps poking her with a stick, she won't write more.**

**Saix: *growls before looking at the audience* Just read and review, before I destroy all of you!**


	40. Who's that blonde?

**Oh gosh, we're back in Hollow Bastion. Great...**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 40

Kyrie was silent as she stared out the Gummi ship's widows, lost in thought with her chin resting against her hand. The recent revelation had sent her into a whirl, and she had no idea what to think.

Axel was the person who kidnapped Kairi. But what she couldn't understand was why. Why would Axel kidnap Kairi?

"_Axel…what are you planning?" _she thought with a sigh. She glanced over at Sora as he sat, slumped in his seat. After getting back on the ship, he sighed and talked about how Kairi was gone again. Looking at Donald and Goofy for an explanation, they had explained how one year ago, they had traveled the worlds looking for Kairi, Riku, and the King. They only found Kairi, and after sending her safely home, they continued their search for Riku and the King.

"_I feel bad for him. He finally had her home safe and sound, only to have her in danger again." _she thought, staring at him. Then she looked out the window once more.

"_I hope she's safe. I know Axel, he would never hurt her."_

-Later, Hollow Bastion-

The group sighed in relief as they walked through Hollow Bastion, glad to be back after so long. But that relief was shattered immediately as four soldiers ran out in front of them, before disappearing into the darkness. The group jumped back, startled.

"Do you think…" Sora asked, looking at them. Goofy nodded.

"Looks like there's more Heartless now." He pointed out. The group nodded in agreement, worry clear on their faces as they stared at each other.

"_But why is there more heartless? Are maybe…Pete and Maleficent here, too?" _she thought as she looked around. For the moment, they couldn't see any other heartless, but one can never be too careful. Especially with beings like the heartless.

"Let's go check in with everyone." Sora suggested. With that, the group continued on through the marketplace, checking out a few stands along the way. Once they passed Scrooge McDuck's ice cream, they ran into a familiar blonde head as he stared out into the borough, his back to them.

"_Huh? Who's that?" _Kyrie thought, staring at the man curiously. Sora gasped, making her turn to him as he looked at the man in front of him.

"Oh, Cloud!" he gasped. She turned her attention back to the man as he nodded once, acknowledging their presence. Donald looked at the man curiously before crossing his arms.

"Whatcha doing?" he asked. Cloud was silent for a moment, before mumbling to himself.

"I'll get him. This time we settle it. Me, and the one who embodies all the darkness in me." Kyrie deadpanned at this.

"_That didn't answer his question." _she thought, staring at him. Donald sighed, Cloud hasn't changed, personality-wise. Appearance however…

"I thought you looked kinda different, Cloud." He pointed out. Cloud was silent, before continuing.

"If I do, it's his fault." He replied. Sora looked at him in confusion.

"Whose?" he asked.

"Sephiroth. Tell me if you see him."

"Okay. What's he look like?"

"Silver hair. Carries a long sword." Kyrie deadpanned again, before tugging on a lock of her snow-white hair.

"_Jeez, his descriptions suck! If anyone had silver hair, you wouldn't be able to tell if it was the right guy or not!" _she thought, looking at the lock before brushing it back over her shoulder. Sora agreed, despite the horrible description.

"Sure. Well, be seeing you, Cloud." But Cloud quickly turned to them, stopping them in their tracks. He took one look at Kyrie and looked away immediately, wincing like he had someone shine a light in his eyes, before turning his attention back to Sora. This made her stare at him.

"_Huh? What was that for?" _she thought as she stared, insulted by the action. He acted like she was some disgusting creature who had appeared to make his life a living hell. But he ignored her glare, and continued talking.

"Be careful. He messes with your head, makes you think darkness is the only way." He warned. The group nodded, taking his warning to heart as a female voice spoke up.

"Is something wrong?" turning, they spotted Aerith as she stood there, staring at him in worry. She quickly walked past them, standing in front of Cloud as he looked at her.

"It's nothing." He answered. But she simply leaned forward, staring at him in scrutiny and making him lean back. "I don't want you involved."

"You mean you don't want me there when you go away again?" she asked, leaning back. He paused for a moment.

"I just…Listen, even if I go far away, I'll come back." He answered.

"Do you mean it?" she asked. He looked away for a moment, hesitant.

"Yeah."

"See? You don't look so sure. Well, okay, I understand. Go… get things settled." This time, he looked her in the eye, confusion clear on his face.

"Huh?"

"No matter how far away you are… once you find your light… I'm sure it will lead you back here again. Right?" she explained. He nodded reluctantly.

"I suppose."

"So I'll stay here… and I'll cheer for you… Okay, Cloud?" the blonde nodded, a small smile appearing on his lips.

"Okay." And with that, he walked away. The group stood there silently as they watched him go, before Aerith sighed.

"Wonder if he'll be okay." Sora looked at the young woman, before nodding.

"He'll be fine. I'm sure there's some light in him somewhere." This brightened her expression as Kyrie walked forward, pulling out her notebook and pen.

**Sora's right. I can sense it, a light deep inside of him. He'll be okay.**

This was true. During the entire conversation about Sephiroth corrupting his heart, she could somehow feel light coming from him. It was weak, but it was still enough to stop his heart from being consumed.

"You're right."

-Later, at Merlin's-

The group walked into the wizard's house to find Cid at the computer as usual, with Yuffie at his side. He turned and looked at them, a smirk on his face.

"Hey, fellas… you're just in time. Got some good news for ya, so get yourselves over to Leon's." he spoke. Sora cocked his head to the side like a puppy.

"What kind of news?"

"We found the computer Ansem was using!" Yuffie exclaimed. This made the group jump, Kyrie in particular. She knew that name all too well, it was the name of her grandfather. At least, from what she could remember of the dreams.

"Yep. Should be able to get all kinds of info on the Heartless and the Organization." Cid continued.

"And maybe something on the dark realm, too? It looks like that's where Riku and Kairi are." Sora asked. Donald nodded.

"And the King." He added. The group continued to talk as Kyrie stared off into space, lost in her own thoughts.

"_If we can find out more about the heartless and the organization, maybe we can find out more about where my grandfather is. Maybe…we can find out more about me, too." _she thought.

"Kyrie, aren't you going to follow them? They're leaving you behind!" Yuffie suddenly called, snapping her out of her thoughts. She looked around, realizing that Sora, Donald, and Goofy were gone. Looking at Yuffie and Cid, she nodded as she ran after them.

"_I really need to stop thinking so much!" _she thought as she ran, trying to catch up to the three. But when she got to the Bailey, the three were nowhere to be found. Looking around helplessly, she began to wander as she tried to find her way again.

"**Princess, you must go outside to the valley where crystals surround you. Your friend will be there soon, but he'll be in dire need of help. He is being chased, and has been gravely injured in the process."** she stopped and looked around, she knew this voice!

"_Oh…it's you again. The disembodied voice…"_

"**Yes, it is I. But now is not the time to dawdle, you must open your eyes and face the dangers that threaten to consume the lives of those you care about."**

"_Open my…eyes?"_

"**Yes. Open your eyes."**

She didn't know when she had closed her eyes, but she quickly opened them and gasped. Two dusks were in front of her, staring at her impatiently.

"**Follow them. They will lead you to where you want to go." **the voice commanded. She nodded and they began to slither off, with her following right behind them. They traveled for awhile, the girl looking around in awe and wonder as they passed huge rock formations that looked like they were made out of crystal, before they finally got to a huge basin.

"_This is the place, I think." _Kyrie thought as she looked around. It seemed to fit the description the voice had given her, but then again they passed numerous places where there were huge rock formations. Turning, she realized that the dusks were gone.

"_Well, this is the place, all right. Otherwise, the dusks wouldn't have ditched me." _she thought with a sigh. But before she could dwell anymore on the subject, she heard the sound of a dark corridor opening behind her.

"K…Kyrie?"

* * *

><p><strong>Mwahahahaha...yes, the cliffhanger returns! *laughs evilly*<strong>

**Axel: Damn you and your stupid cliffhangers! When are me and Kyrie gonna get some action, huh? *wiggles eyebrows suggestively***

**Me: Soon, Axel! So shut up and sit back down! You're dirtying the minds of the innocent children!**

**Demyx: Just ignore these guys and review, because if you don't the author might not post the next chapter. **


	41. Shocking revelations and heartbreak

**Okay, this chapter is gonna be REALLY dramatic, so...half of you guys are gonna probably kill me at the end of this one.**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 41

"K…Kyrie?"

Gasping, she whirled around and faced a familiar red-headed individual as he staggered towards her, blood trailing from his temples as he clutched his left side. Her eyes widened.

"_Axel!" _She thought in alarm, her eyes widening further when she spotted the numerous wounds that covered his body. He gave her a small smirk, before a grimace took its place. Staggering, he lost his footing and fell forward, causing her to gasp as she rushed forward. Holding out her arms, she caught him before he could hit the ground, and cradled his head in her arms as she stared at him in fear.

"_Axel, wake up! Axel!" _her thoughts scream as she shook him, trying to keep him conscious. But the pyro was already out, his wounds finally taking their toll on him. Realizing that he was unconscious, she quickly slid off her backpack and began to riffle through it, trying to find either a potion, elixir, or a Hi-potion. Sadly, she had none of the items in question. But the sound of a dark corridor forming behind them stopped her, causing her to slowly turn her head as a familiar figure stepped out of the corridor.

"Ah, so this is where you had fled to, Axel." Saix spoke as he stepped out, looking at the two with an emotionless frown. She glared at him as she held the man close, remembering his words when they encountered him in Twilight town. But he didn't seem to care, as he turned his attention to her.

"Girl, step aside. The organization still needs both you and the keyblade bearer to complete Kingdom Hearts." he ordered as he took a step forward. But she was on her feet in seconds, standing in front of her fallen friend with her keyblades drawn. She heard Axel groan softly from behind her, meaning that he had regained consciousness.

"_Back off, Saix!" _her thoughts snarled. The man stared at her for a few moments, before summoning his claymore.

"You are willing to sacrifice your life for him? Foolish." he spoke as he prepared to lunge. Kyrie crouched, ready to counter, before a voice called out.

"Kyrie, no! Don't fight him!" the two glanced at Axel as he lifted himself so that he was kneeling, staring at the girl in front of him with wide eyes. She stared back at him, her eyes filled with determination before she gave him a small smile. He stopped moving at her smile, a warmth starting to fill inside his chest the second he saw her smile. With that, she turned and faced Saix once more as he sneered at the two.

"Hmph, pathetic. You both waste your lives for one another, for _friends_." he hissed before lunging, his target for the moment Axel since the man could hardly move. But Kyrie was in front of the man in seconds, her eyes alight with a strange energy as a bubble-like shield surrounded both her and Axel, stopping Saix's attack instantly. His eyes widened and he jumped back, just missing a swipe from the girl.

"Impossible!" he whispered as he stared at her. Axel smirked, none of the other members knew of Kyrie's new ability, except for him.

"Like her new ability, Saix? She's not helpless anymore like she was back then! Got it memorized?" he coughed. But the man seemed to regain his cool composure in seconds, as he stared at the girl.

"Why protect him, girl? This man kidnapped Kairi, the keyblade bearer's friend." he spoke suddenly, startling the two. Kyrie stiffened, glancing back at Axel before glancing at Saix once more.

"_That's right…he did kidnap Kairi. But…" _she quickly shook her head as she got into an attack position once more. She was still shaken over that, but that wasn't something she was going to allow him to get killed over. Saix simply rolled his eyes at her stubbornness.

"You don't care if he was the one who kidnapped the girl? What if I were to tell you that he was also the one who eliminated all of the members that were sent to Castle Oblivion, hmm?" he asked. She gasped loudly, looking back at him with wide eyes.

"_He…what?" _she thought, unable to comprehend the Lunar Diviner's words. Axel stared back, a look of guilt crossing his features.

"He's been lying to you this entire time. Everything he has ever told you, it's all a lie. He's not your friend, he has never been your friend. All he's ever done is used you for his own purposes."

"That's a lie!" Axel exclaimed from where he lay. A sudden whoosh of air caught her attention and she summoned her shield in time, just as Saix brought his claymore down on it. He swore, jumping back before opening a dark corridor. At this moment, he knew she wasn't going to let him deal with Axel. He'll just have to try again later.

"Hmph. We'll see each other again, soon. But for now, I'll leave you two to discuss what happened at Castle Oblivion." and with that, he was gone. The two were silent as they stared at each other, Kyrie with confusion, and Axel with guilt. After a few moments, he was the first to speak.

"Kyrie…I-" Axel started, but stopped as he coughed violently, covering his mouth with one hand while the other wrapped around his abdomen. She dropped her keyblades immediately and ran to his side, placing her hand on his shoulder as she tried to calm his spasms down. But his coughing only got worse, as he coughed out a bit of blood and doubled over in pain.

"_Oh no…if he isn't healed now…he'll-" _Kyrie thought in dismay as the man collapsed into her arms, his breathing weak as his spasms finally subsided. She looked around, trying to find any means to save him. But there was nothing she could, she had no potions and she didn't know any magic. So what could she do?

"Kyrie? Axel?" gasping, she turned and spotted Demyx as he approached. She held the man closer, was he on their side, or the organization's? The man held his arms up in surrender.

"Hey, it's okay! I'm not here to hurt Axel, I'm here to help." he explained. Kyrie stared at him, before nodding and scooting so he could help. Demyx knelt beside the wounded man, and looked him over.

"I'm no medical expert…but his wounds are bad. Here, leave this to me." and with that, he held out his palm over Axel's chest as a green light began to glow.

"Curaga!" he spoke as a flurry of golden flower petals and leaves left his hand and landed on Axel's chest, healing his wounds as they dissolved into his body. Kyrie watched as he healed him, her mind in a whirl.

"_What Saix had said…is it true? Did Axel…eliminate all of the members who were sent to C.O.? Did he…kill Zexion and Lexaeus?" _she thought, heat burning from behind her eyes as she closed them tightly. After about twenty minutes, they heard the man groan as he slowly regained consciousness and opened his eyes, to see them staring at him.

"…Kyrie? Demyx? What are you-" he started, but stopped when Demyx placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I was sent here to see what's going on here, especially with the heartless. I saw Saix and decided to follow him, and I found you and Kyrie instead." he explained. Axel nodded before turning to Kyrie, who had her head turned, avoiding his eyes. Demyx looked back and forth between the two, not sure exactly what was going on.

"Kyrie…" but before Axel could continue, a notebook was shoved into his face, with writing on it.

**Axel, was what Saix said true? Did you really…eliminate everyone who went with you to C.O.?**

The pyro was silent before sitting up, keeping his gaze on his hands as they rested on his lap.

"…Yeah, it's true." he answered. Out of nowhere, Kyrie whipped her hand across Axel's cheek, snapping his head to the right. Looking back, he saw that there were tears in her eyes as they overflowed, the water trailing down her cheeks as she glared at him angrily. Slowly, he lifted his hand and touched where she had slapped him, wincing when he felt the forming bruise. Without another word, Kyrie had her notebook in his face again, with more writing on it.

**Axel…how could you? They…didn't deserve that! Especially Zexion and Lexaeus, they were our friends, our comrades! But you…you killed them!**

"Kyrie, I had no choice! I was ordered to, by Xemnas himself. And Nobodies don't die, we can't die if we never existed in the first place!" he shouted back. The two glared at each other as Demyx looked back and forth between them, he had no idea what to do in situations like this. But Kyrie quickly pulled her notebook back and wrote more before shoving it in his direction once more.

**Axel…I can't believe that I ever trusted you! All this time…you've been lying to my face and using me! Just like Saix said… I never want to see you again!**

And with that, she took off running. Axel was on his feet in moments, and following right after her. He didn't know why, but her words and the expression of pure hurt on her face stung him on the inside. But right now, he had to stop her and explain everything.

"Kyrie, wait! Stop!" he pleaded, but she didn't stop, she just kept running.

"_I can't believe that I ever trusted him!" _she thought as she ran. _"All this time, he's been lying to me…and probably using me, too! Everything…it was all a lie!" _she continued. She spotted a curve in the path and ran faster, getting past the turn and spotted a crevice just big enough for her to fit in. Without further ado, she ran into the crevice and squeezed inside, curling into a ball as she did so. She was quiet as Axel came around the corner, looking for her.

"Kyrie…! Kyrie, come back, please!" he pleaded. But she stayed where she was, her head tucked into her knees as her arms wrapped around her legs, pulling them to her chest.

"Kyrie, I never meant to-" she heard him shout. All was silent before she heard him sigh softly.

"I'm sorry, Kyrie. I'm so sorry." she heard him say softly.

"I may have eliminated the others back at C.O., but I never used you. Not ever. You're my best friend, and you'll always be my best friend. Got it…memorized?" he continued. She pulled her head up from where she had it buried and watched as he walked away, opening a corridor and stepping into it as he did so. She sat there silently for a few moments, crying softly, before finally getting to her feet and wiping the tears from her eyes.

"_Oh Axel…what have I done?"_

-Later-

Kyrie was silent as she walked into the Castle Postern, her gaze on the ground as she walked. After Axel had left, she had squirmed out of the crevice and backtracked, finally finding the path that led to the castle postern. But at the moment, she could care less about finding Sora and the others. Her mind was set on Axel as she walked, what should she do now? Should she forgive Axel, after all he's done, or should she turn against him?

"_But…he…" _she thought, stopping for a moment. Despite what he's done, Axel has always been there for her. Heck, he even saved her life a couple of times, something he didn't have to do. But is that enough to redeem him of his crimes, of his lies? Shaking her head, she continued on. Right now, she had to find Sora and the others. They were probably worried sick about her. She began walking down the path that led away from the Castle Postern, and suddenly felt nostalgia as she walked.

"_Wait…I've been here before…" _she thought as she walked. As she got further down, the more she recognized her surroundings. But when had she been here? Continuing on, she walked through a doorway and felt deja vu smack her in the face.

She was in the same hallway from her dreams, where her younger self had traveled back and forth constantly with Ienzo, her grandfather, Braig, Even, and Kairi. Breaking out into a sprint, she ran down the hallways and soon found herself in front of a familiar door, another factor that appeared in her dreams. Reaching out her hand, she grasped the handle and slowly opened it, before peering inside.

The place was a mess! Books, papers, and glass were scattered all over the floor, glass cases smashed open and chairs toppled over. The desk was scratched up, and the large chair behind was toppled over as well. It was completely different than the study from her dream, but time does change things. Walking in, she bumped into a girl as she walked out.

"Oops, sorry." she spoke before continuing on, Kyrie staring back at her in confusion.

"_Who was that?" _she thought as she stared. Suddenly, she heard a gasp from behind her and turned, to see Sora, Donald, and Goofy as they stared at her.

"Kyrie! Where in the- where did you go?" Sora gasped. She gave a sheepish smile and scratched the back of her head, praying that her eyes weren't red and puffy. It was going to be hard enough to lie about her encounter with Axel, Demyx, and Saix. She didn't need them asking about her eyes, too.

But he looked at her closely, and noticed that her eyes were red and a little puffy.

"Why're your eyes red? Did something happen?" he asked. She stiffened and looked down, before Donald summoned his staff and whacked Sora in the shin with it.

"Ow!"

"Sora, don't be rude!" he berated. Sora chuckled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head, realizing how insensitive he was being. But something on the wall caught his eye, and he walked over.

"What's this doodle?" he asked as he looked at the wall. Donald, Goofy, and Kyrie walked over to see what he was talking about, and found a strange type of diagram written on the wall with purple ink.

"Hollow…Main…Security…Tron…Door to…" Donald spoke as he read the faded words aloud. Goofy turned to Sora and Kyrie.

"Looks like a diagram or somethin'." he spoke. The two shrugged, they had no idea what it was, or what purpose it was for.

"Door…to…darkness?" Donald continued. Suddenly, Sora gasped as he pointed at the words.

"Oh! D-T-D!" he exclaimed as he pointed to the bold letters in "Door to Darkness".

"DTD!" Donald and Goofy cried out in unison. At that moment, Leon came walking in, having heard Donald and Goofy from wherever he materialized from.

"What's up?" he asked. Sora turned to him and pointed, smiling as he did so.

"Look at this! This must be the dataspace! The DTD. See? The Door To Darkness!" he explained. Kyrie nodded, for once, Sora had actually said something that was…smart.

"_Not that he isn't smart, but he does lack in maturity, making people believe that he's dumb and innocent." _she thought, giggling silently. Leon walked over and looked at the wall, placing a hand on his chin.

"What do you know. But…that still leaves the password." He explained, making the group sigh. But a sudden voice spoke out, snapping them back into attention as they turned.

"Say, fellas, did somebody mention the Door to Darkness?" turning, they spotted a mouse in an organization cloak as he stood at the open door, staring at them.

"Your Majesty!"

* * *

><p><strong>*ducks under a table and covers head with hands* I'm sorry! I'm sorry! <strong>

**...well, maybe not. Anyways, I do have a question for some of you guys out there who enjoy this story. Should Demyx live, or fade away? **

**Yes, I did just ask this question. I already know what I'm going to do at this part, but I just want to see if any of you guys want to say something about this. I'm just curious.**

**Anyways, thanks for reading and please review!**


	42. Meeting King Mickey

**Wow. Some of you really want Demyx to stick around.**

**Demyx: Ah, I'm so loved...*goes to hug his fangirls***

**Axel: Psh, I saw a couple of people who want you gone. And you think you're loved?**

**Xigbar: Ah quit it, redhead. You're just mad because you and Angel got into a fight.**

**Axel: Wha-? Am not!**

**Me:...*grabs frying pan* Will you idiots shut up? You're ruining the story!**

**Axel: No we're not, you are!**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 42

"Your Majesty!" Sora, Donald, and Goofy cried as they stared at the mouse in the doorway. He quickly held a finger to his lips, silencing them as he looked back and forth before running in and closing the door behind him.

Just as he turned and lowered his hood, Donald tackled him. Goofy followed right behind him as he lifted the two into his arms, holding them tightly as the two rejoiced in finally finding their missing king. Kyrie watched the happy reunion with a fond smile on her face.

"_I'm happy for them. They finally found their king after searching for so long." _she thought as she watched them. Goofy lowered the two to the ground, Donald giving the king one last hug before pulling away, allowing the king to turn his attention to the others.

"You mentioned the Door to Darkness?" he asked them. Donald and Goofy nodded as they straightened.

"Uh, yes, sir! Ya see, we're lookin' for the secret password." Goofy answered. The king cocked his head to the side in both curiosity and confusion.

"Password?" The boys slumped while Kyrie sighed. After a moment, he brightened. "Oh, I guess you mean like a code." Leon sighed and shook his head, glancing at Kyrie from the corner of his eye before looking at the king once more.

"Well, the Door To Darkness can only be opened by seven princesses. There's Snow White, Jasmine, and Belle…"

"Of course…" Leon spoke, cutting the King off as he uncrossed his arms and exited the room. The group watched him go before he turned to them.

"What're you tryin' to do?" the king asked as he stared at them. Kyrie turned to them as well, she had no idea why they were searching for a password and was curious as well.

"With that password, we can get access to Ansem's research data." Sora explained, Donald and Goofy nodding in agreement. At this, the king jumped and smile brightly.

"So that means you might be able to find out where he is!" he exclaimed. Sora raised his eyebrow at him and laughed slightly.

"Stop jokin' around, Your Majesty. We already defeated Ansem. You know that." He laughed. The king was quiet before he gave a small smile, crossing his arms as he did so.

"Looks like I've got a lot of explainin' to do." he spoke mysteriously, confusing the group as they looked back and forth at each other. Donald straightened immediately and looked at the king.

"We're listening, your majesty!" he spoke. Goofy nodded and straightened as well, with Sora following close behind.

"Okay…but first, I've got a question…" Sora started, but was cut off when Leon walked back into the room.

"Hey, isn't Tron waiting for you guys?" he asked. Kyrie raised her eyebrow at the man as the three looked back and forth between him and the king, seemingly torn between the two. But the king was quick to relive them of the stress with figuring the situation out.

"Don't worry. I'm not goin' anywhere. If those Heartless attack, I'll stand and fight with everybody here." He explained. Sora was silent for a second before nodding.

"Yeah…we will, too."

"Then let's talk more later." He agreed. The boys nodded before Donald patted his chest.

"That's a promise!" he declared. With that, the three ran into the next room, leaving the king and Kyrie alone. The two were quiet for a few moments, before Kyrie wrote in her notebook. Kneeling down to the King's height, she tapped on his shoulder, making him turn to look at her.

"Huh?" he asked. She quickly handed him her notebook, allowing him to see what she had written inside.

**Your Majesty, that is if you don't mind me addressing you so, are you searching for Ansem the Wise as well?**

"Well, of course! Say, wait a minute…" he answered as looked at her closely. He heard that the girl was traveling with the three from Master Yen Sid, and was surprised when he had heard of her background. But this girl…looked strangely familiar…

"You're…I remember you! You're Ansem's granddaughter!" he exclaimed, staring at her with wide eyes. She stared back in equal shock, this mouse knew where she came from? She had to know more.

**Your Majesty, you knew me? Please, tell me everything you can about me, and everything about Ansem as well. You see, I've lost my memories, and I'm trying to find a way to get them back.**

The mouse nodded as he read her words.

"I heard from Master Yen Sid, you lost your memories and woke up in Twilight town. But…I can't really tell you much about who you were. I only met ya a few times, and you were mostly quiet whenever I came to visit. Ansem however…" at this, her shoulders slumped and she sighed sadly.

"He was a very kind man, and a great friend. He was also very wise, and I went to him a lot for his advice. But ya see, when Hollow Bastion was taken by the darkness, he disappeared. Since then, I've been traveling all over the worlds, lookin' for him." he explained. She nodded as she slid off her backpack, before writing more.

**I may not remember much about him, but he seems to remember a lot about me. A man named DiZ said he knew where Ansem was, and tried to take me to him on a few occasions. Here, these are some of the items he's given to me through DiZ.**

With that, she pulled out her Wayfinder, the card he sent, and the photo DiZ had given her. The king took these items and examined them carefully, before looking at her.

"Gee, thanks! But maybe we can find out more with Ansem's computer, surely it knows where he is. And then, if ya want, we can go together and find him." he said gratefully as he handed the items back to her. She nodded as she placed them in her bag. She would like to see him again, and maybe then, she would remember everything.

-A while later-

"_C'mon guys…what's taking you so long?" _Kyrie thought with a sigh as she sat in the computer room, waiting for Sora, Donald, and Goofy to come back from wherever they went to. The king had left a few minutes before, saying that he had some things to check up on in town, leaving her alone with Leon. She wasn't pleased with this, to say the least.

"_Argh, I should've gone with them or the king when I had the chance. Leon's still suspicious of me, not that I can't blame him. But I don't like that he keeps staring at me like I'm some criminal." _she thought with another sigh. Leon looked at her from the corner of his eye, and grimaced. But before he could say anything, a light shot from a beam and Sora, Donald, and Goofy appeared almost instantly. Kyrie jumped at this, surprised.

"_Wow, how did they do that?" _she thought as she got up and ran over, glad that the three were back.

"Well, that's that!" Sora sighed, stretching. Leon looked at the computer screen and smirked, looking at the three.

"Look." The four turned their attention to him and walked over, looking at the computer screen. There were what looked like digital sprites of Sora, Donald, and Goofy. Sora gave a small smile.

"Tron… hang in there." He whispered. The group was quiet for a few moments, before Leon looked at them.

"So, where do we start?" he asked. Instantly Sora held up a finger as he pointed at the computer.

"I know! Let's access the DTD!" he suggested. Leon nodded in agreement and turned to the computer as he began typing. Kyrie turned to the boys and pulled out her notebook before tapping on Sora's shoulder. The boy turned to her.

"Huh? What's up, Kyrie?" he asked. She quickly wrote something down before showing them.

**Where did you guys go? And who is this "Tron"? **

"Oh, we went into a world that's inside the computer, and Tron is uh…a program who lives there. He helped get us out and get access to the DTD. You should come with us next time, Tron would like to meet you." Sora explained. Kyrie smiled and nodded, maybe next time she would come along, too. Then the boys looked around, looking for someone. At this, Leon spoke up.

"The King's checking the situation in town. He'll be back soon, so don't worry. Hey, look it's asking for a password." He explained. Goofy smiled at this.

"That's easy. It's…"

"Sora!"

"Donald!"

"Goofy!"

Kyrie giggled silently as each other them said their individual name, looking so proud of themselves as they did so. Leon nodded as he typed in their names.

"That's… to the point." He muttered. Sora looked at the screen anxiously.

"Well?"

"That did it. We're in. I have to go into town. Need to see what that last shakeup did." Leon spoke as he turned away from the computer. Sora stared at him in both surprise and shock.

"You're not gonna check out the data? It wasn't exactly easy to get!" he griped. Leon smirked and shook his head at the boy's face.

"I'm coming right back. Hey, Sora… why don't you get started on loading the data and copying it down?" he explained. Sora looked at him with blank eyes, apparently not understanding what Leon wanted him to do. But then again, Kyrie didn't know how to work a computer, either.

"It's just a few keystrokes. Easy, right?" he spoke as he patted Sora's shoulder. With that, he walked out of the room. The group stood there silently for a few moments, unsure of what to do, before Sora walked over to the computer. Donald, Goofy, and Kyrie were right behind him as he stared at the keys, unsure on where to start.

"Did it work?" Donald asked as he tried to look at the screen. Sora jumped and turned to him.

"Hey, these things take time, okay?" he exclaimed. With that he turned and pressed a key, making a search bar pop out. This startled the group as they stared at the computer in amazement.

"Whoa…it's doing something!" he spoke as he stared. Goofy looked over the boy's shoulder and read what was on the page before turning to him.

"I think it wants to know what we wanna know." he suggested. Sora nodded as he began to press the keys.

"Riku and Kairi." he spoke as he typed and pressed enter. After a moment, the search turned up nothing.

"No way…even Ansem's computer doesn't know…" he sighed in defeat as he slumped his shoulder and turned away. Kyrie looked at him and placed a sympathetic hand on his shoulder, giving him a small smile as she did so. But he did smile back, making her sigh as she turned to Donald and Goofy, who were currently manning the computer.

"Whatcha doing?" Donald asked as Goofy typed on the computer.

"I thought I'd ask the computer if it can tell us about them nobodies." he answered. At this, Sora turned and watched as Goofy pressed answer and a symbol appeared on the screen. Kyrie knew this symbol all too well, and gave a soft sigh.

"_That's the mark of the Nobodies." _she thought as Sora looked over their shoulders.

"What's this?" Sora asked. But within seconds, the symbol disappeared and an "error" appeared on the screen.

"_**The data is corrupt." **_the computer spoke. But this didn't stop Goofy.

"How about the organization? There!" Goofy asked as he typed. He paused and waited for the computer to load, before the same sign appeared again.

"The data is corrupt." it spoke again. Sora growled.

"Stupid computer!" he cried as he began banging his fists on the keyboard, messing up the screen.

"Sora!" Goofy exclaimed as he and Kyrie tried to stop Sora's rampage on the poor computer. But suddenly, a picture appeared on the screen. It was of an old man, in his forties or so, with blonde hair and a goatee. At this, Kyrie gasped.

"_Grandfather!" _

* * *

><p><strong>Oh gosh, another chapter or two and we get to Demyx's boss battle. Will he survive or fade away? Stay tuned to find out!<strong>

**Axel:...Stay tuned? Is this some sort of TV show or something?**

**Me: No, but I just like saying that.**

**Xemnas: Hmph. Sounds ridiculous if you ask me.**

**Me: *hits him with the frying pan* Nobody asked you, Mansex!**

**Xigbar: *rolls eyes before turning to the audience* Thanks for reading this story so far, dudes! And remember, in order for the author chick to keep typing-**

**Demyx: You have to review! So come on, type in whatever love you have for the story, Axel, Xiggy, or me!**

**Axel: But mostly me. Got it memorized?**


	43. Ansem the Wise

**Hey guys. I'm going back to college classes today, so I might not update as often. I apologize, but school comes first.**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 43

Kyrie stared at the picture on the screen with wide eyes, she knew who this person was. This was the man from her dreams, who her younger self referred to as "grandfather". But Sora, not noticing the expression on the girl's face, stared at the screen in confusion.

"Who's this guy?" Sora asked as he stared. Donald and Goofy shrugged their shoulders, before another voice spoke up.

"Welp, I see ya got things workin'!" the king spoke as he walked into the room. But Kyrie paid no attention to this, as she stared at the picture.

"_So this computer has a picture of him…maybe it would know where he is, just like the king said. And maybe…this hunk of junk would know about me, too. Maybe I can get some answers from this thing after all." _she thought as she stared. Before she could lift her fingers to touch the keys, the king walked over.

"Ansem the Wise!" the mouse exclaimed as he stared at the picture. Kyrie looked at him from the corner of her eye and turned her attention back to the computer as Sora, Donald, and Goofy dragged him out of the room. Her finger tips hovered over the keys for a moment, before she began typing.

"_Where is Ansem? Who am I? What can you tell me?" _she thought as she typed, pressing enter when she typed Ansem's name. But all that would show up was his picture, so she switched over to her own name. She quickly typed in her name, and a few pictures showed up. One was a little girl holding a star doll, like the picture and the doll in her backpack. Another was of a blonde-haired man who was standing with a silver-haired woman, a baby in her arms. The last one was of Ansem, her father and mother, and of her. There were other pictures, but mostly of her, Ienzo, Lea, Isa, the guards, her parents, and other people. But no further information showed up, making her sigh and turn away.

"_Nothing. Looks like I'll just have to keep searching." _she thought as she walked out, following Sora, Donald, Goofy, and the king. She found the four in Ansem's study, standing in front of a large frame with a familiar face on it. She stopped. She knew this man, she had seen him before.

"_Xemnas? No…Xemnas looks a bit different, more cold and emotionless. This man…" _she thought back to one of her dreams, remembering the man who had cut down Ienzo, Even, and the others. She stiffened, remembering the man's name.

"_Xehanort. This man must be Xehanort." _she thought with finality.

"I know I've met this fake Ansem before, and I've seen the leader of Organization XIII, too. Hmm, kinda felt like bein' around the same fella." she heard the king spoke as the group looked at the painting. She walked up from behind to get a better view of the picture as Sora turned to him.

"So, where did you meet this guy?" he asked. The king was silent as he crossed his arms.

"Gosh…I can't remember. Ansem the Wise- the real Ansem- must know the imposter's true identity. That's why I've got to find him and ask him about it." he answered, making the boys slump. But Sora straightened out immediately, glaring at the painting.

"You…! You started all of this! Because of you, Riku and Kairi…" suddenly he gasped, turning to the king.

"Your majesty, do you know where Riku is?" he asked. The king stiffened immediately, before looking away. "He's…I'm sorry. I can't help." he answered. Kyrie raised her eyebrow at this, he was lying. She could tell.

"Really, your majesty? Are you sure?" Sora pleaded, trying to look him in the eye. But the king turned away, not meeting his gaze. "I'm sorry, Sora." he spoke. The room was quiet for a moment, before Sora continued.

"What about Kairi? Organization XIII might've kidnapped her." he asked. At this, the king turned to look at him.

"Oh, no!" he gasped. But he went silent for a moment, before turning to them.

"Sora, Donald, Goofy, Kyrie. I was plannin' to get help from Ansem the Wise. But- now I know I forgot the most important thing. Helping others should always come before asking others for help. We're safe and sound- and free to choose! So there's no reason we shouldn't choose to help our friends. Let's look for Riku and Kairi together." he explained. The group nodded in agreement, before the ground began to shake, startling them as Goofy fell to the floor, covering his head. Once it was done, Sora looked at the ceiling.

"Outside!" he exclaimed. The king nodded.

"Sounds like we gotta start by helpin' out here!" and with that, he ran out of the door. The group looked at each other and nodded, before following after him.

-Hallway-

The group ran into the hallway as quickly as they could, weapons drawn, as they came across a strange scene. Heartless and nobodies were going at it, with the nobodies winning as they took out the heartless with one blow. But a voice above them called out, stopping the melee.

"Heartless! Leave the white ones. Turn your attention to Sora and his friends!" they heard a familiar voice, Maleficent's, command. With that, the heartless turned to them, as well as the nobodies.

"Uh-oh!" Goofy exclaimed. With that, the fight began. The group targeted both the heartless and the nobodies, but strangely, the nobodies were staying as far away from Kyrie as possible. And she did the same, going after the heartless as they surrounded her.

"_But why are they not coming after me? Do they think that I'm still part of the organization?" _she thought as she fought. Soon, all of the heartless and nobodies were gone, leaving the four to stand there alone as they calmed down from their encounter. Suddenly, three small fairies flew up to Sora, Donald, and Goofy, but Kyrie paid them no mind. Her mind was lost in thought, if the dusks and other nobodies were here, so were members of the organization.

"_But who's here? Is Axel…" _but she quickly shook her head. Now was not the time to get mixed up with him. When the three fairies disappeared, the group was quick to head to the castle postern and see what was going on outside. But just as they got to the center of the postern, a dark light flashes, causing the group to stop.

"Whoa!" Sora exclaimed as the group halted. In the center of the postern stood a man with long, silver hair and a long sword. He had black wings, but only one was unfurled. Donald growled.

"Sora, it's Sephiroth!" he cried as he pointed his staff at him. Goofy looked at the man in confusion.

"Ain't Sephiroth the one who's supposed to be the dark part of Cloud's heart?" he asked, placing a hand over his heart. The man looked at them.

"Did Cloud tell you that? Then he must understand now." the man spoke.

"Just what are you gonna do to him?" Sora asked as he took a step forward. Kyrie was right behind him, she didn't trust this man. She could feel revulsion welling up deep inside her chest, this man was covered with darkness.

"_He's bad news. I hope we don't have to fight him. We wouldn't stand a chance." _she thought as she glared at the man.

"Nothing. Cloud is the one who hungers for darkness." Sephiroth answered. Sora was quiet for a moment, before continuing.

"He says he's got a score to settle with you." he warned him. The man nodded, before looking at the sky.

"I see…he wants to meet me again. Then I should give him what he wants. That last bit of light is always the hardest to snuff out." and with that, he flew up into the sky and disappeared in a flash of dark light. The group stared at where he was for a moment, before continuing on.

When they got to the Bailey, they realized just how much damage the heartless and the nobodies caused. They had wrecked the wall that separated the bailey and the path to the castle postern, as well as knock over a few other things. Leon and the gang were currently fighting some heartless, and Sora instantly rushed in.

"We'll help!" he cried as he ran in, keyblade in hand. Aerith turned at the sound of his voice, but she gasped immediately.

"Sora! Behind you!" she cried as she pointed. The group turned and were met by a group of nobodies, consisting of Dusks, creepers, and dancers. But they were no match for the group, as they worked together to fight them off and destroy them. But the nobodies still avoided exchanging blows with Kyrie, confusing her even more.

"_There nobodies…they're under Demyx. Does that mean he's here still? But if he is…why?" _she thought as she fought. Once all of the nobodies were gone, the gang turned to Leon as he moved on.

"The King's in the bailey. You better head over there!" he called. Sora nodded.

"Got it!" he called.

-The Bailey-

"Whoa…" Sora spoke as he looked over the destruction that lay below. Hundreds of heartless scattered about, their friends fighting bravely to protect their homeland as they invaded. Kyrie growled silently as she clenched her fists, angry as she watched the onslaught.

"_Whoever is doing this is gonna pay, dearly. I'll see to this." _she thought as she watched on. Without further ado, she ran onward.

"Kyrie, wait!" Sora called as he ran after her. But the girl was quick as she jumped down from the ledge, only to hear a thump from behind her. Turning, she spotted the king as he stood in front of Sora, Donald, and Goofy with his hands stretched out, preventing them from going any farther.

"Okay, fellas, you've gotta go find Riku and Kairi!" she heard the king order.

"But Leon and the others are friends too!" she heard Sora protest.

"Don't worry. There's already lotsa help here! We'll take care of this fight."

"But…I promised Leon!" there was a moment's pause.

"Donald! Goofy! Take Sora and Kyrie and get goin'!" at this, Kyrie clenched her fists.

"_Nu-uh. I'm not going! We promised to help Leon and the others take down the heartless, and I'm not about to turn tail and run like a coward!" _she thought as she glared at the king. She didn't hear what was said next, and there was a long pause before suddenly, Sora, Donald, and Goofy ran past the king and joined Kyrie on the ledge. The group turned back to him.

"I'm sorry, your majesty!" Sora called as he turned and jumped. Donald followed right after him, as Kyrie and Goofy stared back at the king.

"Hope you can forgive us!" Goofy called as he jumped as well. Kyrie followed right after them, and as soon as they hit the ground, they kept going. But just as the group was about to enter the Ravine Trail, a familiar dark corridor appeared, stopping them in their tracks. Once it disappeared, a familiar dirty blonde nobody stood in its place, jumping for a moment at the sight of them. Kyrie groaned internally.

"_Oh no…Demyx…" _she thought in dismay.

"Hey, you guys are looking lively." The man spoke as he looked at them, trying to lift the mood. But Sora and the others were not in the mood for games.

"Scram!" Donald ordered as he brandished his staff, Sora taking a closer look at the young man.

"Didn't we catch you before messing around in the Underworld? How'd a wimp like you get into Organization XIII? I bet you can't even fight." he spoke, taunting a little.

"Yeah, but we can!" Donald agreed. Demxy stiffened a little, before waving his finger at them like a teacher to a misbehaved student.

"You shouldn't judge anyone by appearance." He warned. But the second Sora brandished his keyblade, he gasped and jumped back in alarm. With that, he quickly turned and began mumbling to himself.

"I told them they were sending the wrong guy..." She heard Demyx groan. Kyrie wished the same thing, why did they have to send Demyx? Sora raised his eyebrow as he stared at the man.

"Who is this kook?" he asked. Goofy was silent for a moment, before turning to him.

"Remember, the organization's made up of nobodies." he explained. Sora nodded.

"Right-no hearts!" at this, Demyx turned.

"Oh, we do too have hearts! Don't be mad…" he spoke. Donald glared at him.

"You can't trick us!" he exclaimed. All was quiet for a few moments, before Demyx pointed at them.

"Silence, traitor."

* * *

><p><strong>Oh noes! Demmy's fight is finally here! Will he make it or not? ...Well, I can say this. You won't find you if you don't review!<strong>

**Xigbar: Seriously? Man babe, you're harsh.**

**Demyx: *puppy eyes* Aw! I don't wanna fade! **

**Axel: *glares* When am I going to get to talk to Kyrie again? Huh?**

**Me: Soon, so shut up guys!**


	44. The Great Maw

**Wow...you guys care a lot about little Demmy.**

**Demyx: Aw, you guys are so awesome! *goes to hug his fangirls***

**Axel: Hmph. You're still a wimp. *crosses arms and turns***

**Me: Oh, lay off Axel. You know that about 95% of the fans of this story are gonna beg for me to keep you alive when your death comes around.**

**Axel: Yeah...wait. You're gonna kill me off?**

**Me: I dunno. Maybe. Maybe not. I'm not telling.**

**Xigbar: Harsh. Sucks for you, Ax!**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 44

Kyrie was silent as she watched Sora, Donald, and Goofy face off against Demyx and his water clones; she had no idea what to do. She didn't want to fight against Sora, but she also didn't want to fight Demyx. At this moment, she was between a rock and a hard place.

"_What should I do? If I let them keep going…someone's going to get hurt. Or worse." _she thought, holding her hands tightly over her chest. But soon it was obvious that Demyx would lose this fight as he got weaker and weaker, and with just one look, she knew Demyx was going to lose much more than the battle. Time seemed to slow down as Demyx stumbled back, with Sora running at him full force, keyblade raised. Her eyes widened.

"_No, Demyx!" _her thoughts screamed as she ran in, getting between the keyblade bearer and the melodious nocturne. Sora's eyes widened when Kyrie jumped in the path of his blade, but it was too late to stop it. In one swing, Kyrie was thrown back, blood spurting from her lips as she was slammed into a rocky wall. Everyone stopped immediately as their eyes shot to her fallen form.

"Kyrie!" Donald and Goofy exclaimed in shock. Demyx also stared at her with wide eyes as she crumpled to the ground.

"Kyrie!" he cried as he ran over. The three raised their eyebrows at him as he knelt over her form, looking over in worry. But before he had a chance to pick her up, Sora and the others ran over, forcing him to jump back. Without further ado, he opened a portal and escaped, looking back at her as he did so.

"_Kyrie…why?" _he thought as the darkness quickly swirled around him, teleporting him away. Sora and the others stared at the fading corridor for a second, before looking at her fallen form.

"Kyrie, are you okay?" Sora asked as he knelt down, turning the girl over as he did so. She was quiet for a moment, before opening her eyes and coughing weakly. Giving him a nod, she tried to sit up, but winced as she wrapped her arm around her abdomen, where she received the death blow meant for Demyx. Goofy was quick to help the girl to her feet as Donald eyed her suspiciously.

"Now why did you hafta go and do that? We almost had him!" Donald scolded. Kyrie was quick to glare at him in anger before sliding her backpack off her back, with the help of Goofy. She quickly whipped out her notebook and wrote something down, before showing them.

**Donald, taking the life of another person doesn't solve anything! Even if he is a nobody, right now, at this moment, he is no different from you or me. Sure, the organization might have done bad things, but still…does taking their lives make it right? Does it?**

The group was quiet as they read her words, before Sora spoke up.

"Kyrie, the guy was bad news! The organization's no different than from any of the other bad guys we had to face from the other worlds, like Shan Yu, Barbossa, and Scar! You had no problems fighting them, so how's this any different?" he argued. She was silent before looking away, he was right, in a sense. But she knew Demyx, he wasn't truly bad. All he wanted was a heart, that's all.

"Aha! There you are!" the group stiffened as they turned, spotting the king as he glared at them and approached. Sora and Donald decided to let the subject with Kyrie drop as they stared at the king, waiting for him to berate them. But he was silent as he crossed his arms, lost in thought.

"You sure have lotsa friends to help. So, I guess we better all pull together and finish this battle for good!" he spoke, causing the group to sigh in relief before Sora, Donald, and Goofy straightened.

"Yes, your majesty!" they exclaimed in unison. With that, the king began to lead them away, before Goofy spotted something from the corner of his eye. Following his gaze, Kyrie spotted a heartless as it shot lasers at a dusk, causing parts of the rock to break away. And a large piece was heading directly at the king!

"Look out!" Goofy exclaimed as he released Kyrie, running and throwing the king out of harms way just as the large fragment nailed Goofy in the head, sending him flying and crashing into the wall. Kyrie gasped as she covered her mouth with her hands in shock.

"_Oh no, Goofy!" _her thoughts cried as she tried to go to his aid, but the wound in her side stopped her, and she had to wobble to his side instead.

"Goofy!" Sora cried as he and Donald ran over. The king stopped a few feet away as Donald and Sora skidded to his side.

"No…" he spoke, staring at his fallen companion with wide eyes. Donald stopped and placed his hand on Goofy's chest, trying to shake him awake.

"Hey! You're the King's captain! You gotta get up!" he cried. Sora followed suit as he knelt on the other side of him.

"C'mon, wake up!"

"I'm sorry about the ice-cream!" Kyrie quickly knelt beside Donald as he continued shaking him.

"Goofy…?" the king asked after a moment. All was silent before Donald groaned, placing his head on Goofy's chest. Kyrie covered her face with her hands, trying to hold back her tears.

"Goofy…" Donald groaned in dismay. Sora shook his head in disbelief as he inched closer to his body.

"This is not happening…it can't be happening…it can't…" he spoke softly, bowing his head. The king watched the three for a moment, before looking ahead.

"They'll pay for this." he swore. With that, he discarded his black cloak, revealing a golden kingdom key with a white hilt as he ran off into battle. Donald growled as he followed after his king, with Sora right behind him as he glanced once more at Kyrie and Goofy. Kyrie looked at Goofy before biting her lip, allowing a few tears to escape.

"_Oh Goofy…I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." _she thought. But a small movement in his chest stopped her, as she gasped and leaned closer to get a better look. There it was again, he was breathing! She smiled in joy, but it quickly faded as she looked around her, did he need medical attention? But a waking groan from him erased her fears as he opened his eyes, blinking blearily as he looked around. When he spotted her, he smiled.

"Gawrsh, what happened?" he asked as he sat up, wincing as he rubbed his head. She giggled silently as she wrote in her notebook, before handing it to him.

**You got hit in the head by a rock while trying to save the King. Sora and the others left a few minutes ago, thinking that the worst happened to you. Are you okay, Goofy?**

He nodded as he read her words.

"Yup. But it sure hurt!" he answered as he got to his feet. She smiled and tried to get to her feet as well, before her side protested. Giving a pained gasp, she fell back to the ground. Goofy looked at her worriedly as he knelt down and helped her back up.

"Gawrsh, is yer side hurtin' ya?" he asked. She gave a small nod, before the two looked towards the Ravine Trail.

"Well, we better get goin'. We need to catch up with Sora and the fellas."

-A little while Later-

The two had gone quite a ways through the Ravine trail, fighting off heartless after heartless, before they came to a crystal cavern. Spotting Sora and the others ahead, Goofy smiled.

"Hey, fellas!" he called. Sora, Donald, and the King whipped their heads around in shock as they spotted Goofy and Kyrie waving at them, smiling brightly.

"Goofy!" they cried in relief. Goofy released Kyrie as he ran to his friends, a broad smile on his face as he entered the cavern.

"Ya know, that really hurt!" he exclaimed as he rubbed his head. But the King didn't care as he jumped on him, hugging him tightly.

"Aw, Goofy!" he cried. Goofy looked down at the mouse and smiled.

"Gawrsh, yer majesty, I get bumped on the head all the time." he joked. Sora and Donald were laughing with relief, before Donald straightened and approached them. Summoning his staff, he swung it at Goofy's knee, causing him to yelp in pain as he jumped around, holding his knee.

"That hurt, too." he cried. Donald growled before his face softened, a tear appearing at the corner of his eye.

"Don't you ever do that again!" he berated. Kyrie limped over as Donald continued berating and scolding him, a small smile on her lips.

"_Everything's okay. But…for how long?" _she thought as she watched them. She was sure now that they were suspicious of her, and she couldn't hide the truth forever. But what both sides didn't know, is that she was now an enemy of the organization. Especially after Xemnas and Saix had broken their promise.

"_But will Sora and the others still want me around, even with knowing this? If worse comes to worse, I'll be alone." _she thought sadly. She was sure no one in the organization would want anything to do with her now, and after her fight with Axel, she was sure he wouldn't want her around either. So at this point, she had no one.

"C'mon, let's keep going!" Sora called as he headed for the exit, the king and the others right behind him. But she stayed put, still unsure whether to tell him the truth or not at this point. But they didn't stop, they just kept going, leaving her behind. She watched silently as they went, before looking back at the path where they had just came from.

"_Guys…I'm sorry."_

With that, she followed after them.

-A few minutes later-

Kyrie panted heavily as she ran, holding her side tightly as it throbbed painfully. She was following the path Sora, Donald, Goofy, and the king had taken, and was hoping she could catch up to them. Looking straight ahead, she spotted Sora, Donald, and Goofy as they were surrounded by thousands of heartless. Growling silently, she sliced through the bunch, creating a path so she could join the three.

"Kyrie, you're just in time!" Sora cried as she caught up to them, panting heavily as she knocked a heartless away. With that, the four faced off against the horde, each taking about a thousand or more as they fought. But while Sora and the others destroyed them with ease, Kyrie had a rougher time with her horde. The wound Sora had dealt her earlier hadn't had a chance to heal, and it left her vulnerable to the heartless.

"_Ugh!" _she thought as one slammed her into the wall. Staggering to her feet, she wiped some blood away from her lips as the horde surrounded her, going in for the kill.

"_At this rate… they'll destroy me before I can destroy them."_

"**Don't worry, princess. Focus all of your strength in one attack, and you will be victorious." **she flinched at the voice, but relaxed after a minute. It was the disembodied voice from before, the one that always helped her when she was in a tight spot.

"_But how can I do that? My keyblades-"_

"**You are not going to use your keyblades. You are going to use your own power."**

"_My own…power?"_

"**Yes. Close your eyes and find your strength. Find something that gives you the will to fight, to keep going." **she nodded and closed her eyes as the heartless closed in. Her mind flashed back through all of her memories from when she first woke up in Twilight town. Roxas, Xion, Demyx, Xigbar, Namine, Hayner, Pence, Olette, all these faces and many more flashed through her mind as she thought. Sora, Donald, Goofy, the king, Kairi, and finally, it stopped on one face. Axel.

-Meanwhile, Sora-

Sora turned just as he finished off the last of his heartless horde, and looked over to see how the others were doing. Donald and Goofy were just finishing up, but when he looked over at Kyrie, he gasped.

"Oh no- Kyrie!" he exclaimed. The girl was cornered against the rocky wall, heartless surrounding her. But she was just standing there, her eyes closed and her keyblades hanging limp at her sides. But just as he was about to jump in, a flash of light stopped him. Kyrie's body was alight with a bright, white light as a symbol of a heart surrounded the ground at her feet. The heart began to expand, destroying all heartless who were caught in the light. Donald and Goofy stopped, staring at the girl with wide eyes.

"What-" Donald exclaimed. As soon as all of the heartless were gone, the light and the heart faded, leaving the girl as she collapsed to the ground. The attack had drained most of her strength, which wasn't really surprising in her eyes. Sora, Donald, and Goofy ran to her side immediately as they surrounded her, Sora helping her to a sitting position as she panted heavily.

"Wow, how did you do that?" he asked. But she shook her head and he nodded, she would tell him later. After a few minutes, she found the strength to get to her feet and they continued on. After a few minutes, Sora stopped, leaning against the wall as he panted heavily. As soon as they joined him, he looked around.

"Where's the king?"

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><p><strong>Oh gosh. Really gotta stop with these cliffhangers.<strong>

**Demyx: Awesome! You let me live!**

**Me: Of course I let you live, silly! *hugs him* Besides, you're needed for part three of this three-part series!**

**Axel: Maybe you can give us a glimpse of part three?**

**Me: NO. That would be spoiling.**

**Axel: Damn!**

**Xemnas:...just ignore them and review. And please, stop reading as well. The author is torturing us.**


	45. The Encounter

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

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><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 45

"Where's the king?" Sora asked as they looked around. Donald spotted the king as he destroyed a heartless just ahead, and pointed.

"There he is!" he exclaimed. Sora nodded.

"C'mon!" he cried. Donald followed after him immediately while Goofy took a bit longer, since he was supporting Kyrie as they followed the two.

"Your Majesty!" Donald cried as the king landed on his feet, glaring at the man in front of him as they approached. Kyrie's eyes widened when she spotted the man in front of the king, and hesitated.

"_Xemnas…" _

"Xehanort!" the king growled as he glared at the man. All was silent before the man spoke.

"How long has it been since I abandoned that name…" he spoke as before he turned and looked at them. Kyrie flinched as he gazed at her, before Sora stepped in front of her.

"Out with it, Nobody! Where's Kairi? Where's Riku!" he demanded. The man was silent for a moment before meeting his gaze.

"I know nothing of any Kairi. As for Riku…perhaps you should ask your king." he spoke as he looked at the king. Sora and the others looked at the king as well, wondering what the man was talking about. But then a corridor began to form around the man, causing them to gasp.

"Stop!" the king exclaimed as he ran, jumping into the corridor and disappearing along with Xemnas. Sora took a couple steps forward, before slumping to the ground.

"He's gone…" he said softly as he began punching the ground with his fist. Goofy and Kyrie joined him as he placed a hand on the boy's shoulder and she placed a hand over his. Donald looked at the three sadly.

"Sora, Goofy, Kyrie." all was silent before they got to their feet and looked over the cliff, seeing that most of the heartless were gone.

"What's goin' on?" Goofy asked as they looked over the cliff.

"Way to fall right into their trap." immediately they whipped around to see a red-haired man staring at them as he leaned against the rocky wall, his arms crossed. Kyrie looked away immediately, her heart throbbing in pain just at the sound of his voice. Axel softened his gaze as he looked at Kyrie, before turning his attention to the three.

"C'mon, it's a set up by Organization XIII. Xemnas is using you and Kyrie to destroy the Heartless- that's his big master plan." he explained. The three had their weapons drawn as they glared at the man, before Donald raised his eyebrow at him.

"Xemnas?" Donald asked. Axel pointed.

"The guy you just saw. He's their leader. Got it memorized? X-E-M, N-A-S." he explained. Everyone was silent for a few moments before Goofy spoke up.

"Organization XIII wants to get rid of the heartless?" he asked. Axel sighed and shook his head.

"Man, you're slow. Every heartless slain by the keyblade releases a captive heart. That is what the organization is after." he explained. Kyrie nodded, Axel's words were true. The organization was using them to collect hearts.

"So what are those guys gonna do with the hearts?" Donald asked. He smirked and shook his head.

"I'm not telling."

"Tell us!" Donald demanded. Sora was quiet for a moment, before his eyes widened.

"You…you're the one who kidnapped Kairi!" he accused, pointing at Axel. He nodded.

"Bingo. The name's Axel. Got it memorized?" he answered shamelessly as he pointed to his temple. But Sora ignored this as he took another step forward.

"Where is Kairi?" he asked. Axel was quiet for a moment before looking away, making Kyrie's heart drop.

"_Axel, what did you do to her?" _she thought as she stared at him. He looked up and met her gaze, and could see the hurt and betrayal reflected in her brown irises.

"Please, just tell me!" Sora begged. At this, he turned his attention back to the boy.

"Look, about Kairi…I'm sorry." he answered.

"Axel!" immediately the group looked to see Saix as he stepped out of a dark corridor. Axel gasped.

"Uh-oh!" just as he was about to open a dark corridor, Saix spoke again.

"You move and someone will get hurt." this stopped him. He looked back at the Luna Diviner, a scowl on his face.

"Like I care."

"Oh, but you should. Considering that-" suddenly, he reached out and took Kyrie by her hair, making her gasp loudly in pain. "-She is here." Axel growled loudly.

"Saix, you let her go! She's got nothing to do with this!" he ordered. Sora, Donald, and Goofy watched the spectacle unfold as Saix raised a hand, meaning to strike her. But she kept struggling, making it difficult to hit her as she squirmed in his hold.

"_Let me go, bastard!" _she thought as she struggled.

"Kyrie!" Sora cried as he tried to stop him, but it was too late as Saix punched her in the stomach, sending her flying as she slammed against the wall, her breath knocked out of her as her side throbbed painfully at the blow. She felt the world spin around her as she crumpled to the ground, before she blacked out.

"No, Kyrie!" Axel cried as he rushed to her side, scooping her into his arms as he looked at her. She was unconscious as she lay limp against him, and he glared at Saix.

"You'll pay for this…!" he growled as he opened a dark corridor. Sora and the others tried to rush in and stop him from taking off, but Saix stopped him.

"Don't worry, we'll make sure he receives the maximum punishment."

"Kyrie!" They cried as Axel disappeared, taking the girl with him.

-A few minutes later-

Axel panted as he ran through the dark corridor, carrying an unconscious Kyrie in his arms as he did so. At the moment, he had no clear destination as he ran, but he had to get out of the dark corridor as soon as possible. He knew how the darkness affected the girl, and he didn't want to make things worse for her.

Summoning another corridor, he exited and found himself walking on something soft, hard, and crunchy. Looking down, he saw nothing but white. It was snow.

"Guess I must've got us to the Land of Dragons." he muttered as he looked around. The two were currently in a burned out village as he passed through, holding the girl bridal-styled as he did so. Once he was sure they were safe, he took shelter in a nearby cave and set her down. Looking her over, he couldn't see anything but a few cuts and bruises on her arms, before looking at her stomach.

"_Sorry, but I have to look." _he thought as he pulled the zipper down on her sleeveless jacket, pulling it away to reveal a gray tube-top that ended just above her waist. Lifting it up a little, he could see a large bruise on her stomach as well as her entire right side turning a sickly black and purple. He swore loudly, from the looks of the bruising, he was sure that she had either bruised or cracked some of her ribs. Reaching out, he gingerly brushed his fingertips against the bruises, earning a pained gasp from the girl. He scowled.

"_Dammit Kyrie, what happened to you?" _he thought as he hovered his hand over the large bruises. He quickly uttered a cure spell, and waited patiently as the spell healed her bruises and any other wounds she may have had. But a sudden sound from behind them made him stiffen as he turned, spotting Demyx as he approached.

"What're you doing here, Demyx?" he growled as he summoned a chakram, keeping his other arm around Kyrie as he held her protectively against his chest. The melodious nocturne held his arms up immediately.

"Whoa, Ax! Calm down! I'm only here to talk and see how she's doing, that's all." he explained. But Axel continued glaring at him, not believing him.

"What, didn't you get the memo? I'm a traitor now, got it memorized?" he taunted. But Demyx kept a straight face as he walked closer.

"Yeah, I got the memo. But that's not why I'm here." he quickly walked over and looked at the girl, making Axel raised his eyebrows at the nobody as he pointed to her side where the bruises were slowly healing.

"Kyrie got hurt because of me. She protected me." he explained. Axel gave a curt nod before holding her closer.

"How'd that happen?" he asked. The young man was silent for a moment, before talking.

"I was supposed to have awakened Roxas back in Hollow Bastion. The organization gave me an ultimatum after my screw up back in Olympus Coliseum. If I didn't successfully stop the keyblade bearer, they would turn me into a dusk. But things got bad, I was getting my butt kicked, and if she hadn't protected me…I-" he stopped and looked away, but Axel knew what would've came next. _"I would've been destroyed."_

"So Kyrie took the blow for you, huh? But that doesn't explain why you're here." he said gruffly. Demyx was quiet before sighing.

"Well, I guess I'm here because I'd rather not go back and be turned into a dusk. So that means…well…I guess I'm a traitor, too." he answered. Axel groaned and face-palmed, this was just great. Now he was stuck with the laziest and weakest member of the organization. Great.

"_Man, what am I getting myself into? First I lose Kairi to Saix, then I find out that Kyrie's being blackmailed, and now I'm stuck with Demyx. This sucks." _he thought. Then he looked at the water mage.

"Well good luck."

"Huh? You don't want me around?"

"Of course I don't! It's bad enough that I have to keep hopping from world to world trying to avoid the other members, I don't need to keep an eye on you, too."

"Hey, I can keep an eye on myself, thank you very much!"

"Look, just go back and leave me be. You're just going to slow me down, got it memorized?"

"But what can I go back to, Ax? If I go back to the organization, I'm a dusk! C'mon, please?" Demyx begged, giving Axel a puppy-face. The pyro growled.

"No."

"Please?"

"No!"

"Pretty please?"

"What the- no! You are not tagging along!"

"But Kyrie likes me."

"She's going back to Sora the second she wakes up. So she can't help you." he growled. Demyx was silent before giving a sigh.

"Aw, c'mon, Axel! Please let me tag along! I promise I won't get in your way!" Axel growled and glared at him.

"No, dammit! For the last time, no!" he shouted. Demyx shrank back in fear before they heard a soft sigh, looking at the girl in Axel's arms. She looked like she would regain consciousness at any moment, but they weren't sure.

"…Is she…gonna be okay?" he asked softly. Axel nodded.

"Yeah, she'll be okay. Her bruises and ribs are healed, so she'll be fine." he answered. Demyx nodded. After a moment, he spoke again.

"Hey, are you two still fighting? What happened back there in Hollow Bastion?" he asked, remembering the fight she and Axel had. After the two had run off, Demyx had stood there for the longest time, trying to figure out the fight. Now that Axel was here, he might as well ask. The man was silent before looking away.

"Saix told her things she wasn't supposed to hear and fed her lies about me lying to her and using her. Now she hates me because of what happened at C.O., not to mention that she believed the shit Saix told her."

"You're talking about how you backstabbed them? Zexion, Lexaeus, and the others?" he had heard from Xigbar, who, being the eavesdropper of the organization, had overheard Xemnas and Saix discussing weeks after it happened. Axel nodded.

"Yeah." all was quiet between the two men, before Demyx spoke up.

"Axel, I don't think she hates you. Okay, maybe she feels a bit betrayed 'cuz you didn't tell her the truth about that-"

"Oh thanks, Demmy. That makes me feel **so** much better-"

"-Anyways." he said sternly, looking at the pyro, "she'd never hate you, Axel. I mean, you guys are best friends! You two are so close that you're tied at the hip!" he exclaimed, pointing at his own hip for emphasis. Axel was silent before looking at the girl in his lap, reaching down and brushing her bangs out of her face.

"_I hope you're right, Demyx." _

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><p><strong>Aw, poor Axel. <strong>

**Unfortunately I probably won't be updating for a few days, because I'm overloaded with college work and life. Plus I'm on a little block at the moment, which I'll hopefully get out of soon. Just thought I'd let you all know!**

**Axel: What? But what happens between me and Kyrie? I need to know!**

**Me: And you can wait, Axel. Hey, it ain't my fault I'm going to college and getting an education. **

**Xigbar: It's not?**

**Me:...Okay, maybe it is. But hey, at least it keeps me out of trouble.**

**Demyx: You can say that again. I can't even go outside anymore without getting chased by my fangirls.**

**Me: ^^; Uh...*turns to the audience* As we continue our discussion, feel free to review. And sorry again for the inconvenience!**


	46. I'm Sorry for Hurting You

**Okay, here's the newest and long-awaited chapter!**

**...Okay, no one's really waited that long for it, but hell, it is important.**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 46

The two men were silent as they sat in the cave, Demyx strumming his sitar and Axel keeping watch over Kyrie as she rested. Her wounds were completely healed and her jacket was back on as she slept, curled against Axel's chest as he held her tightly. While stroking her hair, Axel jumped as she began to stir, her eyes slowly opening as she regained consciousness.

"_Ugh…w-what…happened?" _she thought as she regained consciousness. At first everything was hazy in her left eye, and completely black in her right. But after a moment, everything began to clear up, and she realized that she was in a cave. Attempting to move, she also realized that someone was holding her. Slowly turning, she caught sight of familiar red hair before a face hovered over her own.

"Hey, sleepyhead. Finally up?" Axel asked as he looked at her. All was silent for a few minutes as Kyrie stared at him in disbelief, before she suddenly lashed out, kicking Axel in the chest as she tried to struggle out of his hold.

"_Let me go!" _she thought as she struggled, finally breaking free of his hold and landing on the cave floor with a loud thud, causing Demyx to jump as he strung a wrong note on his sitar.

"Gah! What happened?" he cried. But Kyrie ignored him as she glared at Axel, who was rubbing his chest to ease the pain from the bruise she inflicted with her kick. All was quiet for a few moments before Kyrie got to her feet, ready to make a break for it. But Axel wasn't having it.

"Kyrie, wait!" he exclaimed as he got to his feet, reaching out and grabbing her wrist as he did so. But she quickly shook her head and began tugging on her wrist, trying to free it from his grasp.

"_No, just let me go! Liar!" _she thought as she struggled. But he only tightened his grip and pulled her closer, before she landed against his chest, giving him the opportunity to wrap his arms around her. He quickly lowered his head until his lips were at her ear and tightened his hold on her.

"Kyrie, please listen to me. Sure, I was the one who eliminated half the people sent to castle oblivion, but that was the only thing I didn't tell you about. I swear, I never lied or used you." he whispered harshly. But she shook her head, her eyes brimming with tears.

"_No…you're lying!" _she thought as she continued to struggle. But he held on tightly, because he knew, if he were to let her go…he'd never see her again. Grasping her chin, he made her look him in the eye as he stared at her intently.

"Kyrie, please just listen. I would never, ever, do anything to hurt you. I would destroy myself before intentionally hurting you!" he shouted. At this she stopped, meeting his gaze. His eyes were alight with emerald embers as he stared at her, pouring his nonexistent heart and soul to her.

"You're important to me, Kyrie. At first, you were just some girl who I rescued from falling to her death. But as time went on, you became much more than that. You became my best friend, someone who supported me and cared for me, even after Roxas left. If something were to happen to you…" he paused, taking a shaky breath at the thought of her getting hurt.

"I…I wouldn't know what to do. So I'm sorry about everything that's happened, but get this straight. I never used you, and what happened back at C.O. was the only thing I ever lied to you about, for good reasons too. I never lied about anything else. Got it memorized?" he continued as he stared at her. All was silent as his words sank in, before she allowed the tears to slip free. With a choked sob, she buried her face into his chest and cried silently as he began to rock her back and forth, holding her tightly as he rubbed soothing circles on her back.

"C'mon Kyrie, don't cry…I hate it when you cry." he whispered soothingly. She nodded as she pressed her cheek against his chest. But she felt awful.

"_I can't believe… that I did that to him. And after the promise I made to him…" _she thought, burying her head deeper into his chest. But an awkward cough startled them, as they turned to see Demyx as he stared at them awkwardly.

"Um…are you guys finished yet? This is kinda embarrassing…" he chuckled nervously. The two quickly looked back at each other, before blushing brightly and jumping apart. Kyrie twiddled her fingers nervously and wiped her face while he scratched his head.

"Uh…y-yeah, we're finished." he coughed. Demyx sighed as he walked over to Kyrie.

"Thank kingdom hearts! I thought you two were gonna start making out from the way you were looking at each other! Then that would've been really awkward." he said exasperatedly. Axel jumped and clenched his fist while Kyrie looked at him curiously, not understanding what he was talking about.

"_Demyx, you…!" _he thought as he clenched his fist, his cheeks bright red as Demyx patted Kyrie's head.

"It's good to see you back on your feet, Kyrie! I was worried, especially after you got hit by Sora's keyblade. I thought you were done for!" he spoke as he patted her head, making her smile as she tried to get him to stop. But Axel let this go as he joined them, ruffling her hair as she struggled, trying to get the two to stop messing with her hair.

-Later-

All was quiet in the caves as a fire flickered, keeping the three warm as snow fell just outside. Demyx was sound asleep as he curled up next to the fire, exhausted after everything that happened that day. But Axel and Kyrie were wide awake as they watched the fire dance, not once speaking to each other. After a little while, Kyrie gave a soft yawn as she rubbed her eyes, trying to keep herself awake. But Axel caught this.

"Tired? You should rest." he spoke as he stood, pulling the zipper down on his cloak. Her cheeks flared bright red at this and she quickly looked away and covered her eyes, before hearing him chuckle from behind her.

"What are you so embarrassed about? I'm just taking off my cloak, no big deal." turning slowly, she blushed brighter at the sight of his exposed chest. Axel was standing there in nothing but pants as he slung his cloak over his shoulder, staring at her with an eyebrow raised. Shaking his head, he sat down beside her and draped the cloak over her shoulders, making her stare at him in confusion.

"Here, this'll keep you warm." he spoke. But he smirked when she looked at him worriedly.

"And I'll be fine. I'm the flurry of dancing flames, remember? I can make my own heat." he added, winking at her. She giggled silently and nodded, before laying down and curling into a ball next to him. All was silent for a few minutes, before she raised her head to look at him. She quickly pulled out her notebook and pen from her back and tugged on his arm, making him turn to look at her.

"Huh? What's up?" he asked. She quickly wrote before flipping it over so he could see.

**Axel, back at Hollow Bastion when you told Sora that you were sorry about Kairi…what did you do to her? Did you destroy her?**

He blinked owlishly at this before shaking his head.

"No, I didn't harm a single hair on her little red head. Saix took her from me, that's why I was so beat up when we met up again at Hollow Bastion before the heartless attacked." he explained. She nodded, believing his words. The two were silent for a few minutes before she wrote more.

**But Axel, there's something I don't understand. Why did you kidnap Kairi? She had nothing to do with any of this…so why?**

Axel turned away, he didn't know what to tell her. Now that he was back on her good side, he didn't dare lie to her. But he knew that if he told her the truth, she would react in two ways. One would be that she would be 100 percent with it, and the other would be that she would be 100 percent against it. Sighing, he placed a hand on her head as he turned to look at her.

"I'll tell you later. For now, just got to sleep." he answered. She crossed her arms and pouted, but obeyed as she curled back up, pulling out her plush as she tucked her notebook and pen back into her backpack. With that she closed her eyes and was out within minutes, sleeping quietly curled up by Axel, who began stroking her hair as she slept. His eyes softened as he watched her sleep, almost entranced by how much at ease she looked, despite all of the stress today had caused.

"_Hopefully things start to look up by tomorrow. I don't want to have to keep running from world to world, not knowing if I'll live to see the next day. But considering what's happened today, I doubt that'll happen anytime soon." _he was snapped out of his thoughts as she snuggled closer to him, burying her face into his chest as she cradled the plush in her arms. He gave her a small smile, as he leaned forward and rested his head on top of hers.

"_G'night, Kyrie. See you tomorrow morning."_

-The Next Day-

Kyrie groaned silently as she stirred from her slumber. Cracking an eye open, her eyes immediately popped open as she cheeks flushed crimson. Axel's face was inches away from her own as he slept peacefully, his arm draped over her shoulders as one of his legs wrapped around hers, effectively pinning her there. What was worse was that he was shirtless and holding her as close as possible. From the corner of her eye, she spotted Demyx still asleep by what remained of the fire they had started the night before, and she sighed.

"_This is so embarrassing…but…why am I liking this?" _she thought as she turned her attention back to the sleeping pyro. For some reason, she felt the butterflies in her stomach again as she stared at his sleeping face, her cheeks flushing a darker shade of red as she stared. Her heart was thrumming wildly inside her chest, and her hands were becoming cold and clammy. Why was she reacting this way?

"_Why? We're just friends…" _she thought as she stared. What else could they be? Was there more to their relationship than just friendship? If so, how could she term it? After a few minutes of staring, she found herself moving her face closer to his, unaware of what she was doing. Just as her lips were about to touch his-

"Mrg…shut up, Demyx. Another five more minutes…" she heard him mumble, causing her to jump back and out of his arms, holding her hand over her chest as she tried to calm her pacing heart. She heard him groan again as he slowly opened his eyes, before sitting up and scratching the back of his head as he yawned loudly. Looking around, he spotted Kyrie a few feet away, her cheeks flushed bright red with her hand over her heart. He grinned at her.

"Morning, Kyrie. Why's your face all red?" but her blushed darkened and she looked away, causing him to cock his head to the side at her in curiosity. Then he looked over at Demyx and rolled his eyes as the melodious nocturne mumbled and groaned in his sleep.

"Demyx still isn't up yet? Damn…" he quickly got to his feet and walked over, looking down at the sleeping man as he crossed his arms. "Yo, Demmy, wake up." he spoke as he nudged the man with his foot. The man snorted and mumbled a few incoherent words before blinking his eyes open blearily.

"C'mon Saix, just five more minutes…" he mumbled as he rolled over, trying to get back to sleep. Axel growled.

"Either you get up now or I set your ass on fire, what's it gonna be?" he growled. That got him up quickly as he cried out, afraid that the pyro would actually carry out the threat. Axel smirked at him.

"Finally…" Kyrie giggled silently as Demyx blushed brightly, scratching the back of his head embarrassingly. With the melodious nocturne now awake, Axel turned to her.

"Alright, now let's get some breakfast."

-Later-

After they finished eating the fish Demyx and Axel had caught, the group began wandering the burned out village, seeing if there were any villagers that could help them. But the village was deserted, no surprise since none of the buildings had been left standing.

"_I can't believe no one even bothered to come and fix things. Especially now that Shan Yu is gone." _she thought with a shake of her head. Suddenly a noise stopped her, causing her to stiffen as she slowly turned. At the entrance of the burned village stood someone in a black cloak, causing her to gasp and grab both Axel and Demyx, causing them to stop as well.

"Huh? What's wrong Ky-" Demyx started as they turned, before spotting the man. Axel growled as he summoned his chakrams, immediately stepping in front of Kyrie to hide her from view.

"Who are you? Are you from the organization?" he called. The man shook his head.

"No. But I'm surprised that you don't recognize me." he called back. Kyrie raised her eyebrows, this man is the one who works for DiZ. But Axel didn't seem to care about this as he glared at the man.

"Okay, so what do you want?"

"Her." the man answered, pointing to Kyrie. Within seconds Axel pushed her towards Demyx and turned to them.

"Dem, get Kyrie out of here, now!"

"But what about you-"

"Don't worry about me. Just get her out of here and keep her safe!" but before either party could move, another voice called out.

"You- stop!" the man looked over his shoulder and ran off, causing the three to relax. But without a moment's hesitation, Axel pulled Kyrie and Demyx behind one of the piles of debris, and watched as a woman with short, black hair ran into the village. Kyrie recognized her immediately.

"_Mulan!" _she thought as she took a step towards the girl, but stopped and looked back at Axel and Demyx. He nodded, before smirking.

"Go. We'll come and check up on you later. Let's go, Demyx." he spoke as he opened a dark corridor. Kyrie nodded and ran out to meet the girl as the two men vanished into the darkness.

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><p><strong>*ducks from a chair thrown at her* Hey, stop that!<strong>

**Axel: You almost had Kyrie kiss me! Why the hell did you stop it? **

**Me: Because! That's why!**

**Kyrie: *rolls eyes and writes* **_Please review so these two can stop trying to kill each other. I would like to have my best friend in one piece, thank you._


	47. Hey, Mulan!

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 47

"_Mulan!" _Kyrie thought as she ran towards the young woman, waving her arms wildly as she did so. Hearing the crunching of snow, the woman turned and smiled as she spotted a familiar face.

"Oh, Kyrie! It's you!" she exclaimed as the two hugged. The two quickly pulled apart as Kyrie pulled out her notebook.

**How've you been, Mulan? And why are you here?**

"I'm great! But I'm here because there are rumors of a spy in black lurking around the mountains. I've been trying to catch him, and just now I almost did! But he got away…" she explained. Kyrie nodded sympathetically as she wrote more.

**Well, let's look for him together. Two sets of eyes are much better than one.**

Inside, Kyrie didn't want to find the man in black because he was after her, but she couldn't turn down a friend in distress. And with Mulan with her, the man wouldn't stand a chance against them. Mulan smiled.

"Right."

-A little while later-

Both girls had been searching high and low within the burned out village, but there was still no sign of the black-hooded man. But then they got to the exit of the village that led to the mountain summit, they spotted three familiar figures as they ran after something.

"Sora!" Mulan called. The boy stopped and turned to her as she and Kyrie ran to meet him. But once he spotted Kyrie, his eyes widened.

"Kyrie!" at this, Donald and Goofy turned as well.

"Kyrie?" the next thing she knew, she was being tackled by Sora, Donald, and Goofy, who were hugging the living daylights out of her.

"You're okay!" Goofy cried. She smiled and hugged them back, glad to see them again. But they pulled away quickly, turning to Mulan.

"Mulan, hey. No time to talk. We gotta catch that guy!" Sora explained. Mulan nodded.

"I'm following him, too!" she explained. At this, Donald waved his arm at them.

"Then let's go!" he exclaimed, pointing to the path to the summit. The group nodded as they took off across the snow, hot on the pursuit of the mysterious cloaked man. As they got closer to the summit, they could see the perpetrator's footprints in the snow, a clear sign that he was just straight ahead.

"_Maybe when we catch him, he'll tell us why he's after me. But I think…I know the answer already." _Kyrie thought as she ran. Remembering the events that happened in the digital Twilight town, she grimaced.

"_DiZ. He's still after me. I think that's why." _she thought with a nod. When they got to the mountain summit however, the man was nowhere to be found. Mulan sighed.

"Looks like he got away." She sighed. At this Goofy turned to her.

"How come you're after somebody from Organization XIII?" he asked. At this, she raised her eyebrows at him.

"What is that?" she asked. Kyrie resisted the urge to face palm, but then again, it would be normal that Mulan didn't know who Organization XIII was.

"The guy in black." Sora explained. Donald nodded.

"One of the bad guys!" he added. At this, Mulan smirked as she placed her hands on her hips.

"I knew it. There's a rumor in the Imperial City about a spy in black, lurking in the mountains. I'd been up here tracking him, but when you arrived, I lost him." She explained. The three bowed their heads sadly.

"Sorry." Goofy mumbled apologetically. But she shook her head.

"Don't apologize. But I do wonder where he went." She spoke as she looked around. But a sudden noise caught their attention as they looked up, to see hordes of heartless at the top of the mountain. Kyrie groaned silently.

"_This again? Didn't we have to go through this when Shan Yu was around?" _she thought with a growl as she summoned her keyblades. Donald groaned.

"Again?"

"Okay, first things first!" Sora called as the horde of heartless began to charge. The group began to charge as well, but Sora stopped, making Kyrie turned and gasp. There stood the hooded man who worked for DiZ staring at them. Sora growled.

"Hey, you! Quit sneakin' around!" he growled. But the man simply summoned his weapon, not once uttering a word to the boy. Kyrie shook her head and focused on the heartless in front of her, Sora could take care of himself, she didn't need to help him. The heartless were fairly easy to dispatch compared to their comrades back in Hollow Bastion, and before long, they were all destroyed. Turning her attention back to Sora, she spotted the boy as he ran towards the ridge.

"Are you okay, Sora?" Donald asked as they approached the boy. Goofy looked over Kyrie's shoulder to get a better look of the boy, worry clear on his features.

"Did ya get 'im?" he asked. Sora was quiet for a few moments, before answering.

"Hmm… Oh…he's gone." He answered. Donald growled as he began jumping up and down.

"What? You lost him?" he exclaimed. But Sora quickly looked around, ignoring the duck's ranting and raving.

"Anyway… What now?" he asked. The group was silent for a few minutes before Goofy spoke up.

"I think that we better get rid of all of the Heartless first." He suggested. Kyrie nodded in agreement.

"_Yes, the heartless should be our number one priority." _she thought in agreement. But suddenly, the mountain began to shake and rumble, causing the group to cry out in alarm.

"Come on, we better get off the mountain." Mulan ordered. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Kyrie nodded in agreement as the group began to run down the mountain. But once they got to the ridge, another large earthquake shook the mountain, causing Kyrie to slip in the snow. But because the snow was so slippery, she began to slide towards the edge of the cliff.

"Kyrie!" Sora cried as he ran after her. Just as she was about to plummet, she summoned her Lost Memory keyblade and stabbed it into the cliffside, lodging it in the rock and saving herself from falling. But before Sora and the others could pull her up, something shot out of the mountain, hovering over the ridge as it looked down at them. It looked like a large, blue dragon with fan-like wings. But the familiar heartless insignia was visible on its torso. With one last look, it took off towards the imperial palace. Sora and Goofy quickly pulled Kyrie up, just as Mulan pointed.

"It's heading for the city! We've got to warn Shang!" she exclaimed. The group nodded in agreement as they continued on, running through the burned out village, the mountain path, and then the checkpoint. Soon, they were at the palace.

"Huh? Everything's fine." Sora stated as they looked around, not a heartless to be seen. But a familiar gruff voice spoke up, causing them to turn.

"Well, now… Look who decided to show up." Yao said as he approached the group, with Ling and Chien-Po at his sides.

"What? Is that a problem?" Donald asked, raising an eyebrow. But Ling shook his head.

"Nah!"

"We're just glad you're not in black cloaks." Chien-Po added. Mulan gasped.

"You saw him?" she asked. The three men nodded as they pointed to the palace doors.

"Yeah…he's in the palace." Yao answered. With that the group took off, not wanting to waste any time. When they got to the palace doors, Sora and the group began to bang their fists on them, trying to get them to open.

"Open up!" he cried. But the doors remained shut as Mulan looked around, before eyes landed on a large pillar.

"Over here!" she called to the boys. They looked over before Donald ran over, jumping on the pillar and clamping on as he began to climb like a spider. Goofy and Sora followed suit, and Mulan was the last to go. Kyrie waited on the bottom, looking at the pillar anxiously.

"_I don't think I can climb this…but I have to try." _she thought. With that, she jumped on, but fell off almost immediately.

"Are you okay?" she heard Sora called as he and Mulan stopped to look at her. She nodded and got to her feet, trying again. But because of her long skirt, she couldn't get the proper footing needed to climb up the pillar. Growling in frustration, she walked over to the palace doors and summoned her white kingdom key, before pointing it.

"_Get me in to the other side." _she thought. The keyblade lit up immediately, shooting out and creating a corridor of light. Sora and Mulan watched with wide eyes as she passed through, before it disappeared from behind her. They looked at each other.

"How did she do that?"

-Once inside-

Kyrie sighed in relief as she exited her light corridor, relieved that she was inside the palace instead of somewhere else.

"_At least I know I'm getting better at this." _she thought with a smile. Hearing a thump, she looked up and spotted Donald, Goofy, Sora, and Mulan as they finished climbing up the pillar. With that they jumped down, with Donald losing his footing and landing on his side, causing her to giggle silently. With that they looked ahead, spotting a cloaked figure standing in front of the doors that led to the emperor's throne room.

"Wait!" Mulan called as they got closer, causing the figure to cringe. Kyrie knew who it was immediately, because only one person in the organization had a body posture like that.

"_Xigbar!" _she thought happily. But Sora quickly took a step forward, curiosity clear on his features.

"…Riku?" he asked. But the figure turned, pulling down his hood to reveal scars, graying hair, and an eye patch. Kyrie's smile grew.

"_I knew it, it was Xigbar!" _she thought. Xigbar shrugged his shoulders at the boy. "No. Never heard of him." But just as he said that, numerous sniper nobodies appeared, allowing the freeshooter a chance to escape as he opened a dark corridor.

"Hey Angel, lookin' good!" he called as he ran, making her giggle a little at his comment. But she quickly turned her attention to the sniper nobodies as they gathered, weapons at the ready.

"_Time to take out the trash."_

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><p><strong>...I can't think of anything to say today. Oh well. Please review!<strong>


	48. I Have to tell them the Truth

**Wow...not getting as much reviews per chapter as I used to. How depressing...*flops head on desk***

**Axel: Oh crap. *calls out* Hey, Author's depressed again! Someone get her something!**

**Sora: Aw...don't be sad! *hugs***

**Me: Aw...you're so cute, Sora! *hugs back***

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters, plot, ect. (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 48

"_Phew…that was quick." _Kyrie thought as she landed on her feet, after dealing a fatal blow to a sniper as it passed. Turning, she spotted Sora and Mulan running to her as Donald and Goofy dealt with the last one, the group coming out of the fight completely unharmed.

"Guess it wasn't Riku." Goofy spoke as they regrouped, directing his attention to Sora. The boy nodded sadly as Mulan looked at the doors to the emperor's chamber uneasily.

"Sorry, Sora. I can't stay. I'm worried about Shang!" she explained. Sora jerked his head up and looked at her before he nodded.

"Oh! Right!" he exclaimed as the group turned their attention to the large double doors. Without further ado, they walked in and spotted Shang as he stood next to the Emperor, who was sitting on his throne as calm as can be.

"_How can he be so calm? Oh, right, he doesn't know about the heartless yet." _Kyrie thought as Mulan took a bow, before looking at the two men anxiously.

"Your Excellency! Shang! Something terrible has happened! We saw a huge monster fly out of the mountains and toward the city!" she exclaimed as she told them of the incoming danger.

"We know." Shang spoke, startling the group.

"A man dressed in black came to me and explained of the danger." the Emperor explained. Sora cocked his head to the side.

"What was his name?"

"He didn't offer his name. Although he was rather rude." The Emperor answered. At this, Sora smiled broadly.

"Rude? … Then it WAS Riku!" he exclaimed happily. Kyrie was silent, she didn't know much about Riku, except that he was a childhood friend of Sora's.

"_But if it is Riku…why is he wearing a black cloak? To spy on the organization?" _she thought as she crossed her arms. Before another word could be said, the palace began to shake, throwing the group around as Mulan turned towards the door.

"I'll check outside." She spoke as she started towards the door, before being pulled back by Kyrie. She looked at the older woman in worry, before Sora and the others joined her.

"We're coming too." He said adamantly. Mulan nodded before Shang took a step forward, his eyebrows furrowed in concern.

"Mulan!" he spoke as he reached out to her. But she turned to him, making it clear that she wasn't going to let him stop her from going outside.

"Shang- guard the Emperor! I'll be fine with them!" Sora and Kyrie nodded in agreement as they turned to the captain.

"Th-that's right!" Sora stammered. The Emperor nodded in agreement as he folded his arms, looking at the group calmly and confidently.

"Indeed. That is true: We need not worry while you protect us." He spoke, confidence clear in his tone. Donald quickly grabbed onto Sora and Mulan's arms before pointing to the door.

"Hurry!" he cried. They nodded and ran out, with Goofy, Donald, and Kyrie following close behind. But when they tried to open the doors to the palace courtyard, the large heartless appeared, trying to stick its large head through the door. Mulan hesitated for a moment, before Sora and Kyrie placed their hands on her arms, assuring her. She smiled and nodded as the group summoned their weapons, chasing the large heartless into the courtyard. That's when all hell broke loose.

The heartless dove in at them, making them dodge before Sora ran after it, jumping and clinging to its tail. Donald, Goofy, and Mulan followed suit, with Kyrie just missing the tail as it took off by inches. She landed on the ground with a heavy thud, the wind knocked out of her and her keyblades flying out of her grasp as she did so.

"_Ow…damn heartless…" _she thought with a groan as she sat up, grabbing her keyblades as she watched Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Mulan deal the heartless heavy blows from atop its back. But it suddenly spun, throwing Donald, Goofy, and Mulan off but Sora still managed to hold on. Helping the others to their feet, the four began to run as it flew at them, trying to tackle them and send them flying. It twisted its body again for the second time, this time flinging Sora off its back and into the air as it shot up.

"_Sora!" _Kyrie thought in alarm as he hit the ground, before running to his aid. He groaned loudly as she helped him to his feet, before looking at her.

"Thanks." he said gratefully before the two jumped, just avoiding another tackle by the heartless. The fight seemed to go one forever as the gang dodged lightning attacks, wind gusts, bombs, and whatever else the heartless had thrown at them. And just when it seemed like it would never end, the heartless gave out a defeated cry as it hovered in the air for a moment, before falling. Unfortunately, Mulan was just under it, making the group turn and look at her in horror. In that instant, Shang appeared, and ran in.

"Mulan!" he cried as he ran to her, covering her body with his own as he held her protectively. Thankfully, the heartless dissipated before it could touch them, causing the group to sigh in relief as the two got to their feet. The held hands for a moment, looking at each other with a strange look Kyrie had never seen before. She blinked at them owlishly.

"_Why are they looking at each other like that? Was there something we miss?" _she thought as she stared. The couple noticed the group looking at them and released their hands, blushing and chuckling in embarrassment. But Kyrie still continued to stare at them, something about the way they were looking at each other bugged her.

"_What was that look? And why do I feel…jealous?"_

-Later, in the throne room-

"Once again, you have served China well. It would please me to reward you. What is it that you wish?" the Emperor spoke as he stared at the group. Kyrie smiled when she heard Goofy's stomach growl, Donald hum as he thought about treasure, and Sora silent as he thought about his wish.

"Well…You say a guy in black came to see you. What did he say?" Sora asked. The Emperor raised his eyebrow at him.

"That is all you request?" he asked, surprised. Sora nodded. "Yes." Kyrie almost laughed at the disappointed look on Donald and Goofy's faces.

"_They'll never change." _she thought with a smile as the Emperor continued.

"Dragons have crossed our land and left a great web of paths. These dragons wield much power, and they are the source of many gifts to both man and nature. But it would seem someone of evil intent disturbed one of our dragons, and transformed it into what you call a Heartless. It is my belief that this young man came to warn me of that danger. Then, I could alert and prepare my troops." He explained. The group nodded as Sora cocked his head to the side.

"Did you?" he asked. The Emperor smiled and shook his head. "I was about to, but he told me the situation had changed." he answered. At this, Shang stepped in.

"He said three 'wise guys' and a white-haired girl had arrived, and they would take care of things." He explained. Sora thought about this for a moment, before he smiled.

"That's gotta be Riku!" he exclaimed. Kyrie was silent as Goofy and Donald spoke up, lost in thought.

"_If that was him…that means he's working for DiZ. But I can't tell Sora that, for one, I don't even know where DiZ is. Maybe I should let myself be kidnapped by Riku, so I can lead Sora and the others to him and DiZ. But then again-" _Kyrie thought as she crossed her arms. Suddenly the Emperor spoke again, turning his attention to Mulan.

"Now then, Fa Mulan. Do you have a request?" at this, the girl jumped.

"I'd like Shang…I-I mean… well…The Captain…" she spoke timidly, twiddling her fingers. The Emperor nodded as he leaned forward, eager to hear what she had to say. "Yes, yes, my dear. What is it?"

"Could the Captain have a vacation, please?" she asked. Shang jumped at this, staring at her with a blush on his face as the Emperor chuckled, standing up as he did so.

"I hardly expected such humble requests. In this case, I'm afraid I must refuse. Captain Li's responsibility is to protect the Emperor. And yet, Mulan…Would you like to serve alongside him and protect me?" he spoke, making the two people in question turn and stare at him in surprise.

"What?"

"Two reeds together are stronger than one. But the choice is yours alone." He continued. The girl was silent for a moment before nodding, clasping her hands together as she bowed.

"Thank you, your Excellency!" she exclaimed. The Emperor nodded as the group began to laugh, seeing how red Shang's face was, as well as Sora's who was rubbing his finger under his nose. With that the group left, saying one last farewell to the couple and the Emperor as they headed off towards the Gummi ship.

-Later, Gummi Ship-

Everyone sighed in relief as they got on the Gummi ship, especially Kyrie who had actually missed traveling by ship than by corridor. But once she got on, she could tell something was up. Donald was staring at her suspiciously, as well as Sora. She raised her eyebrows at the two, confused by their looks.

"Kyrie, we have to talk." Sora spoke suddenly, his voice unnaturally stern. She nodded as she sat down, the three taking the seats across from hers. They stared at her for a long moment, before Sora spoke up.

"Okay, what happened back at Hollow Bastion? How did you end up at the Land of Dragons, and what happened to Axel?" He questioned, crossing his arms as he stared at her suspiciously. She looked down at her hands for a moment, before pulling her notebook out of her backpack.

**Honestly, I can't remember. I know Axel took me there and healed me, but that's it.**

Donald immediately stomped his foot at this, his suspicious glare not once leaving her face.

"Is that the truth, or are you lyin'?" he asked. She looked at them in confusion before Goofy explained.

"Ya see, back in Hollow Bastion, that Saix feller was tellin' us about how you were lyin' to us all along and that you were workin' for the organization." he explained. She stared at them with wide eyes before Sora cleared his throat.

"So is what he said true? Are you working for the Organization?" he asked. The girl was silent for a few minutes, before writing in her notebook.

**Look, there's something you need to understand. But this is going to be a long story, do you mind?**

"No, go right ahead. We're listenin'." Goofy answered. She nodded and began her story. She told them everything from when she first woke up blank in Twilight town, to when she was sent to spy on Sora and the others. She told them about how she befriended Axel and a few other members, not daring to mention Xion or Roxas, and about everything that happened when she was still with the organization.

As all of this was going on, Sora, Donald, and Goofy stared at her in disbelief, shocked that she had such a past with them. Once she was done, Sora and Donald jumped to their feet.

"So you were working for them all along? You lied to us!" he accused, pointing his finger at her. Donald nodded in agreement.

"Yeah!" Kyrie quickly shook her head as she wrote more.

**Sora, you don't understand! I never wanted to spy on you, and after I was tossed out, I didn't do what I was supposed to. **

But Sora and Donald didn't believe her.

"Really? Then how come you protected Demyx back in Hollow Bastion? Or why you were so friendly with that guy back in the Land of Dragons? How can we trust you?" he exclaimed. Kyrie looked down in fear and shame. She was ashamed of lying to Sora and the others, but at the same time, she was afraid that they were going to kick her off the ship and leave her behind. She had grown fond of the three through their adventures, and saw them as close friends, like Roxas, Xion, and Axel. But after Xion faded away and Roxas disappeared, she grew a fear of losing the people she cared about. And now, thanks to her deceit, they were going to leave her, too.

But while all of this was going on, Goofy was lost in thought, which was surprising for the bipedal dog. He had watched her expressions the entire time as she wrote her story, and could clearly see that she was being honest and sincere about everything.

"Gawrsh Sora, just listen for a minute. Kyrie says she didn't wanna spy on us, and I think she's tellin' the truth." he spoke, startling the three. Sora and Donald turned to him in disbelief as he continued.

"Think 'bout it for a moment. Sora, if Kairi or Riku's life was bein' held hostage by the Organization, wouldn't you do anything to keep 'em safe?" he asked, turning to Sora. The boy was silent before he turned to Donald.

"And Donald, what if they had Daisy? Wouldn't you do the same thing?" he asked. The duck was silent before giving a snort, agreeing with Goofy's statement.

"And ever since Kyrie's been with us, she's never tried to hurt us or do anythin' that would put us in danger. She's always been helpful, and always looked out for us. Would someone who's workin' for the organization do anything like that?" he asked. Sora and Donald were silent as he got to his feet and walked over, looking at the girl as he felt down beside her.

"Kyrie, we understand what it's like to have someone we care about in danger, an' we understand why you lied. But now that we know everythin', can we put the past behind us and promise not to lie anymore?" he asked, looking at the girl as she stared at him in both shock and confusion. Her eyes began to well up with tears as she wrote more in her notebook.

**You mean…you're letting me stay? Even after everything that's happened?**

"Why, of course we are! You're our friend, an' friends stick together!" he answered, smiling. At this, Sora nodded. After thinking about everything the four had been through on this adventure, he could see that all along she was their friend, and that she had never done anything to put them in danger. She was like a sister to him, and he wanted to help her out of this.

"Yeah, you've been there for us when we were in trouble, now it's time that we stick with you. Sure, we may not know what it's like to lose our memories and find out that the people who took us in turned out to be the bad guys, but it doesn't mean we should judge you because of it." he explained as he placed a hand on her shoulder. But Donald was still hesitant as he stared at her, before giving a frustrated sigh.

"Oh phooey. I guess we can let you stay…but I'm warnin' ya! If you do anything that puts Sora or Goofy in danger, you're out!" he berated. She was silent for a moment before looking at the notebook in her palms, her hands shaking.

"_They actually…they're actually letting me stay, even after everything that's happened. …Why? Why are they letting me stay?" _she thought as her eyes began to well with tears.

"Kyrie? You okay?" Sora asked as he looked at her. But without warning, she began to cry, dropping her notebook as she buried her face into her hands, crying silently. This startled the three before Sora and Goofy smiled sympathetically, reaching out and placing their hands on the girl's shoulders as she cried in relief.

"Hey, it's okay, don't cry. Everything's gonna be okay now."

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><p><strong>Okay. Definitely got kinda dramatic at the end, but who cares? <strong>

**Axel: Probably the few people who are actually reading your story and reviewing.**

**Me:...Don't bring that up...*headdesk***

**Xigbar: But he does have a-**

**Roxas: *covers their mouths and turns to the audience* Look guys, just read and review! And leave lots of reviews! So we can keep the story going, okay?**

**Demyx: You said it, Rox!**


	49. The Stolen Rose

**Wow...so many reviews... *faints***

**Roxas: Oh man, did she faint again?**

**Axel: Yep.**

**Roxas: Sigh...then I'll have to take over for the moment. *turns to the audience* Well, if I were in the author's shoes, I guess she'd thank all of you for the reviews. So thanks guys for giving this story so many reviews, we really appreciate it! There's a little special something going on in this chapter that involves Kyrie and Axel's relationship, so I'm pretty sure you guys are going to either kill the author or hug her.**

**Demyx: Rox, you can't say that! We need the author to live for the story to get to part three! That, and you're not supposed to spoil anything for the chapter!**

**Roxas: Okay, okay! Look, just do anything but kill the author, okay? Now that that's out of the way...let's start the story!**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 49

A few hours later, the group found themselves in front of Beast's Castle as they stood in the courtyard, staring at the castle in awe.

"_No matter how many times we come here, that castle still freaks me out." _Kyrie thought as Sora opened the doors. Waving a hand for them to follow, he walked inside, with Donald, Goofy, and Kyrie following right behind him. Once they got inside, they spotted a familiar face as the Beast paced in front of the stairs, wearing…a suit?

"_Wow. I didn't know the Beast could even wear a suit, let alone own one." _she thought as she blinked. Sora smiled and waved.

"Hey there!" he called. The Beast looked at them, aggravation on his features as Donald looked around.

"No Heartless and no Nobodies!" he stated. Goofy nodded warily.

"I think they're close, though…"

"Better watch out!" Sora cautioned. Kyrie nodded but the Beast simply growled in annoyance. Kyrie huffed and crossed her arms while the others looked at him in confusion.

"What are you so mad about?" Donald asked. The Beast gave a huff before answering.

"Why are you here?" he asked.

"The Nobodies' world has to be around out there somewhere. We're looking for a way in." Sora explained. At that moment, Belle appeared at the top of the staircase, in a lovely golden dress with her hair and makeup done beautifully. Kyrie smiled and waved to the girl, who smiled and gave a delicate wave back as she came down the stairs.

"Tonight is very important." The Beast spoke as he began walking up the stairs, meeting her in front of the ballroom. With that he opened the door and the two walked inside, hand-in-hand. The group blinked at this before Goofy spoke up.

"Uh, maybe we came at a bad time." He stated, a small blush on his cheeks. Kyrie nodded in agreement, but something about the two walking hand-in-hand bothered her. She didn't know why they were walking hand-in-hand, and it sorta frustrated her.

"Well, there's only one way to find out." Donald cried as he ran up the stairs. The others sighed and shook their heads before Sora tried to stop him.

"Donald!" he cried as he ran after the duck. But he quickly pushed the doors open and ran in, making the group sigh as they followed after him. Once inside the ballroom, the ran into Lumiere as he was just finishing up his speech. Taking note of their presence, he turned to them.

"And of course, our honored guests are welcome, too."

"A welcome indeed." The group stiffened as Sora and Kyrie ran into the center of the room, recognizing the voice immediately. They spotted Xaldin on top of a balcony as he stared down at them, his hood masking his features.

"The organization!" Sora exclaimed. Xaldin merely gave a huff at his appearance.

"You just don't know when to quit. And as for you," he pointed at Kyrie, who was glaring at him venomously. "I'll deal with you personally, girl." she snorted at him as Donald ran to their side, glaring at her before glaring at the man. She gave a soft sigh.

"_Donald still doesn't trust me. Not that I blame him, though. He has every right to not trust me." _she thought in dismay as he summoned his staff.

"Oh yeah! We'll show you!" he called. Beast snarled from where he was standing protectively in front of Belle, before rushing to their side.

"Get out!" he snarled. Kyrie was quick to run to Belle's side, knowing that a fight was about to commence. But the girl was glaring at the man, something quiet uncommon for her.

"Not tonight!" she exclaimed. Kyrie gave her a sympathetic nod before the two looked back at the cloaked man. He quickly snapped his fingers, summoning his Lancer nobodies before Beast roared, knocking them out of the way. Kyrie summoned her keyblades immediately and stood protectively in front of Belle and the servants in case any came near.

"I've come to take something that you hold dear." Xaldin continued. The Beast glared at him and roared indignantly, insulted by the man's very presence. He gave a dead chuckle. "Yes. Let your anger grow…" and with that, he disappeared, leaving the group to deal with his nobodies as they swarmed. Sora looked at the Beast.

"Beast! We have to get rid of these guys first!" he called. The Beast nodded and the group ran in, with Kyrie leading Belle and the servants safely out of danger. Standing in front of them for protection, the group watched as the four fought the nobodies, taking them out easily. But Kyrie kept her attention elsewhere, to see if Xaldin would appear and carry out his threat.

"_Belle is important to the Beast, so he might come after her." _she thought as she looked around. But the man never appeared, and within minutes, the fight was over. Sora and the others looked around for a moment. "Where's Belle?"

"Over here!" she called, making Sora and the others turn as she, Kyrie, and the servants approached. Sora sighed and wiped his brow in relief.

"Whew, she's okay." Goofy nodded as he held up a finger.

"Guess Xaldin didn't take anything after all." He spoke, smiling. But the Beast stiffened, turning and running out of the ballroom as if the devil were after him. Sora and the others blinked in confusion.

"What's wrong?" he called. But Belle ran after the Beast as well, passing both him and Kyrie as she did so. "Belle? What's with them?"

"Maybe Belle isn't the only thing precious to the Beast." Goofy suggested. Sora shrugged his shoulders but followed after the two nevertheless, with Donald, Goofy, and Kyrie right behind him. As the group ran through the West Wing, Kyrie's eyes were following the shadows on the walls, trying to see if she can spot a familiar black cloak.

"_But what else is important to the Beast? I thought he cared about Belle." _she thought as she ran, trying to figure out what else the Beast held so dear. But once they got to his room, they watched as he paced in anger, growling and snarling under his breath as he did so. Suddenly he gave a loud roar, making the group jump as Belle took a step forward.

"What's wrong?" she exclaimed in concern. But he didn't answer and just kept growling and pacing. But Kyrie blinked, something was off.

"_Huh, something's not right, something's missing…did he paint the room? No, that can't be it, it still looks gloomy…" _she thought as Beast and Belle argued. Then it hit her.

"_Oh yeah! That glass case that held the rose, it's gone! Is that the other thing that's precious to the Beast?" _she thought as she zeroed in on the table where it was supposed to be. Whatever the Beast said next seemed to have hurt Belle, as she turned and walked out of the room. Kyrie turned and watched as she left, before glaring at the Beast and following after her. Sora, Donald, and Goofy followed after them, just catching Belle before she could leave the hallway.

"Don't worry, Belle. We'll get his rose back." Sora spoke as he tried to reassure the girl. But she nodded sadly and continued on, with Kyrie and the servants following after her.

-Later, Belle's room-

"It's okay dear, you know the master's just upset is all. I'm sure he doesn't really want you to leave." the Wardrobe spoke as she tried to console the girl. Kyrie nodded in agreement, the three were currently sitting on Belle's large bed as they waited to see if Sora was successful with convincing the Beast to fight back. Kyrie pulled out her notebook and began to write.

**Yeah, Belle. I'm sure the Beast doesn't want you gone, he just doesn't want you in danger, that's all. Xaldin could come back and kidnap you, so he probably just wants you to safe.**

Belle gave a sad little nod as she sighed.

"I hope you're right…" she sighed. Kyrie looked at the girl sympathetically, she didn't know what to do. It was obvious that Belle cared about her friend, but something was still bugging Kyrie. The two acted like friends in a sense, but they also acted a little different from that. After a moment, she wrote more and tugged on the girl's arm, causing Belle to look at her.

"Yes?" she asked. Kyrie quickly placed her notebook on the young woman's lap as she began to read.

**Belle, is the Beast your friend? **

"Why of course he is. Why do you ask?" she answered. Kyrie was silent before writing more.

**Because you sorta act like friends…but at the same time, you don't. Is there something more going on?**

The young woman's cheeks flushed a little at her question.

"Well…what you are talking about is love. I care for the Beast…but, uh…" but before she could finish, Kyrie had written more and plopped the notebook back on her lap.

**Belle, what is "Love"? Can you explain it to me?**

The young woman nodded at this.

"Why, of course I can. Love is when you care about someone very much, and you want to always be with them. You want to see them happy, and it hurts when they're not happy so you do everything you can to make them happy again." she explained. Kyrie nodded eagerly before she continued.

"You're always thinking about the person, and you're always happy when they're around. Sometimes being with the person hurts if they don't know or return your feelings, but somehow, you get through it. That's the best way you can describe love." she finished. Kyrie nodded, her mind swirling with the new information and questions she had for her.

**So you're always happy to be with that person? Do you feel like there's butterflies in your stomach, your hands get cold and clammy, and your cheeks heat up when they're around?**

"Well, yes. Why are you asking this?" she answered. The girl was silent as she twiddled her fingers, before writing her answer.

**Well…there's this friend I've known for a long time, and for some strange reason recently, I've been feeling butterflies in my stomach when I'm around him, my cheeks flush red, and my hands get cold and clammy. My heart speeds up without me knowing it, and whenever he smiles or smirks, I feel like all the air just flew out of me. **

The Wardrobe and Belle looked at each other before speaking up.

"Well dear, it sounds like you're head over heels in love with this boy. And you've definitely got it bad from the sounds of it." she spoke, wiggling her eyebrows. Kyrie blushed brightly and looked away before the two laughed.

"It's okay, there's nothing to feel ashamed about. But does he know?" Belle asked. Kyrie shook her head, making the wardrobe sigh.

"Well you better hurry and tell him. He's not going to wait around forever!" she insisted. But Kyrie stayed silent, her hand over her heart as she thought about this.

"_But am I in…love with him? Does he…no. He can't feel the same way. He's a nobody…" _she thought, disheartened. The room was silent for a few minutes, before Belle got to her feet.

"Well, I better change. The party was ruined so there's no reason why I should keep wearing this."

-A little while later-

"_Ah…the night air feels so good…" _Kyrie thought as she and Belle stood on the balcony. The two decided to get some fresh air after Belle got done getting changed, because really, who wanted to be in a stuffy room on a night like this?

But Belle didn't seem to notice how lovely the night was as she rested her head in her arms on the balcony, looking out into the distance. The two were silent before Kyrie heard the sounds of the large entrance doors being opened. Looking down, she spotted Sora, Donald, Goofy, and the Beast as they walked out into the courtyard. The group looked like they were looking for someone, before Goofy just happened to look up. Spotting them, he began to wave. Kyrie smiled as she waved back, causing Belle to look as well and gasp in surprise. She stood to go back inside, before spotting a familiar glass case sitting in front of the balcony doors. Kyrie turned and smiled as well.

"_The rose!" _she thought. But then her eyes narrowed suspiciously, how did the rose get there?

"Is that…" Belle spoke as she quickly picked up the case and smiled.

"Look! It's the rose!"

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><p><strong>...Wait, what just happened?<strong>

**Axel: GAH! K-chan, would you please stop beating around the bush and just have me and Kyrie kiss already? This is getting really annoying!**

**Me: I'm building it up. Besides, it's not like she's going to know her feelings for you right away! She's been missing for 11 years AND lost her memory! How's she supposed to know what love is?**

**Axel: Why you...**

**Sora & Roxas: *rolls their eyes at the two before looking at the audience* Thanks for reading and don't forget to review!**

**Axel: Got it memorized?**


	50. Dancing in the Moonlight

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 50

"Look! It's the rose!" Belle cried as she picked up the case, balancing it on her arm and the balcony as she looked down at the group. Beast looked up and gazed at her happily for a moment before a gloved hand reached out and covered her mouth. Kyrie watched with wide eyes as Xaldin appeared behind the young woman, grabbing her and holding her against her will as she struggled.

"_Belle! Let her go!" _Kyrie thought angrily as she lunged, wrapping her arms around the older man's waist as she bit down on his arm. The man grunted but didn't release her as he jumped, landing on the roof that led to the bridge.

"Belle!" They heard the Beast cry as Xaldin looked back at them, giving them a smirk before continuing to the bridge. Once he landed on the bridge, he looked down at the girl who had her teeth embedded in his arm.

"Hmph. Annoying wench!" he snorted as he shoved her away, kicking her in the stomach and sending her flying. The boys had just gotten through the gate before Kyrie landed in front of them, landing on her left side.

"Kyrie!" Belle cried as the girl lay on the ground, coughing harshly as she tried to get her breath back. Sora ran to the girl's side and helped her up as Beast snarled at Xaldin.

"You! Get out of my castle, now!" he snarled. But Xaldin smirked.

"With pleasure, but I'd rather travel light…What shall I leave behind? Belle? Or the rose?" he spoke, looking down at Belle and the rose in his arms. Belle looked at the Beast helplessly, making the Beast stare at her in concern. Without a moment's hesitation, he shot forward.

"Belle!" he exclaimed. Belle quickly looked back at the man before elbowing him in the gut, swiping the rose from his head and running as fast as she could, a victorious smile clear on her face. Sora smiled as he waved.

"Good one, Belle!" he cried as she ran past. Kyrie smiled and gave her a thumbs up, making the girl nod as she retreated to the entrance of the bridge. The group turned their attention back on Xaldin as he summoned his lances, the wind whipping around them as they got into their fighting stances. Kyrie narrowed her eyes as she summoned both keyblades, the anger within her growing at what Xaldin had tried to do.

"_I'm going to make him pay for hurting Belle and the Beast, as well as that kick he dealt me. I'll teach him!" _she thought, knowing that her eyes were probably glowing red right now. The man smirked at them, before grabbing three of his lances while the others surrounded him like a shield. With that, the battle began as the four rushed in, summoning whatever weapons they had. But in the Beast's case, his claws and talons.

But Xaldin was quick as he threw Sora, Donald, and Goofy back, using the wind to sweep them off their feet. Only Kyrie and the Beast remained standing as they rushed at him, the Beast because of his large stature, and Kyrie because she knew Xaldin's fighting style. Jumping overhead, she slammed one keyblade down on his lances, while the other came in at a sweep, slamming into his shins and sending him crumpling to the floor.

"Ugh!" he exclaimed as he fell, the Beast and Sora rushing in to exchange blows with the fallen man. But they only got in a few blows as the man used the wind to get himself back on his feet, before he swung his lances down and struck the Beast across his chest. He gave a roar of pain as he fell back, before Donald rushed in and began performing curaga on him.

"Ah!" Sora cried as he jumped out of the way of one of Xaldin's lances, which nearly took his head off. Kyrie was at his side in seconds as she blocked another one from running him through, looking at him from the corner of her eye.

"_This isn't good, he's moving too quick." _she thought with a grimace. But this didn't faze her or the others, as they rushed in again to take on the whirlwind lancer as he twirled his lances around in a deadly dance. But about halfway through the fight, the man's fighting style began to change as his body emitted a green light. He became faster and much more aggressive, like Saix in the moonlight. Kyrie quickly jumped back and whistled, causing the others to look at her.

"_Come on, hurry!" _she thought as she waved them over. They nodded and without a moment's hesitation, they were at her side. She quickly summoned her shield of light as Xaldin closed in, protecting the group from his onslaught. His eyes widened as his lances came into contact with her shield, making her smirk impishly in return.

"C'mon guys, now!" Sora cried as he and the others ran at them, weapons at the ready. Kyrie maintained her shield as they fought, knowing that the second she lowered it, she would immediately become a target. The fight lasted for a good while, each side taking serious blows, before Sora and the Beast worked together and dealt the death blow to the nobody. He jumped back, holding his side as his lances transformed into pillars of light, signaling the end for him.

"No…!" he cried as he disappeared, making Kyrie look away as a result. She knew her shoulders were shaking, and her eyes were hot, but she held herself back. Once he was gone, the group returned to the castle courtyard, where Belle was waiting. The Beast went to her immediately before he stopped, the two staring at each other. After a moment, Belle took a step forward, holding out the rose to him.

"Here, it's yours again." she said softly as she handed him the case. He took it gently, before looking at her.

"Belle…"

"I know. You want me to leave the castle." she spoke sadly. A heavy silence fell over everyone, as Sora, Donald, Goofy, Kyrie, and the servants looked between them sadly. Kyrie quickly held her hands together over her chest, praying.

"_Oh Beast, please don't send Belle away. She's happy here…happy to be with you. Don't you feel the same way?" _she thought as she stared at the two anxiously. The Beast was quiet for a moment, before speaking.

"What matters is…You weren't hurt by Xaldin…you're safe." at this, everyone smiled and sighed in relief as he continued.

"And …I'm very grateful to you…for bringing the rose back to me. Thank you." he continued, looking away shyly. Belle smiled fondly at him.

"It's the least I could do. You've been good to me. And you didn't have to be." she explained. All was quiet for a moment before Beast looked at her again.

"Listen, Belle…"

"Yes?" Belle asked, but the Beast hesitated, looking at the others for help. They began to quietly cheer for him to keep going, before the Beast finally gained enough courage to face her again.

"Belle, I'd like you to stay…With me…please?" he asked shyly. Kyrie blushed and giggled silently before Belle stepped forward, taking his paw in hers while placing the other on her waist.

"I will." she answered, making him smile broadly. Lumiere was quick to start the music as the two began to dance, the group watching quietly as they did so. As Sora and the others spoke amongst themselves, Kyrie watched on quietly with a small smile on her face.

"_Belle is so happy…and so is the Beast. Is it…because they're together? Is this…what happens when you're in love?" _

-Later-

Kyrie was quiet as she snuck out of her room, Sora and the others, as well as everyone in the castle, were sound asleep after the night's stressful events. But the girl couldn't get to sleep, because so much was on her mind.

"_There is so much that I don't understand…" _she thought as she silently walked down the East Wing, careful to not wake anyone else up. _"I don't really know what love is, but each time I'm around Axel, I get this bubbly feeling inside me. I want to be at his side, always, and it hurts when he isn't here. Is that what love is? Belle said it was, but I think there's much more to it than that." _she continued as she walked. Soon she found herself in the ballroom, looking at the candelabra that hung overhead. She remembered how Dark Thorn had tossed her up there, getting her stuck. Then she remembered the events of after, when Axel appeared in her room and gave her a birthday present.

She smiled at this, and unconsciously began moving her feet, copying the dance Belle and the Beast danced. After a few moments, she felt her foot slip, causing her to stumble and land on her behind. She winced.

"_Ow…well, that was stupid." _Kyrie thought as she rubbed her behind. But a chuckle from behind her made her gasp as she turned, spotting Axel as he stood a few feet away. He had a hand to his mouth, trying to stifle his chuckles as she glared at him.

"W-well…that was something." he chuckled, making her huff as she got to her feet and crossed her arms, looking away.

"_Hmph! Jerk!" _she thought as she listened to him keep laughing at her. After a few moments, he seemed to have calmed down as he took a few steps closer, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Aw, I was just joking, Kyrie. Got it memorized?" he spoke as he turned her around to face him. She pouted for a moment, before giving him a smile and nodding in response. He smirked in return, before placing a hand on her head and ruffling her hair.

"So what exactly were you trying to do? Dance?" at this, she nodded. He gave a sigh and scratched the back of his head. "Well, you kinda need a partner for that one. It's called a "waltz"." he informed. She nodded again and looked down, before looking up again.

"_I wonder…" _reaching out, she gently clasped his hands and moved them, so that one rested on her side, because she was much shorter than him and he couldn't reach her waist, and the other she held. This made the pyro blink at her in confusion and blush a little at where one of his hands was resting.

"Wait, you want me to dance with you? Uh…" but her innocent expression made him cave in as he sighed. "Okay, fine. I'll dance, but don't step on my feet. Got it memorized?" he said sternly. She smiled and nodded as he walked her through the steps, the girl making notes of his movements as they progressed. Soon, the two were dancing slowly, her smiling brightly and him grinning a little. But the sudden sound of a sitar stopped them, as they looked over to see Demyx playing a song. He blinked at them innocently.

"What? Go on, keep dancing. Don't worry, I'll play it low enough so it won't wake anyone up." he insisted. The two looked back at each other and shrugged, before continuing on. As Demyx played a soft, romantic melody on his sitar, the two danced, both thoroughly enjoying themselves as they did so.

"_Is this how Belle felt when she danced with the Beast? Like your heart is so full of emotion that it might overflow in an instant?" _Kyrie thought as they danced. The thought made her smile a little as she rested her head against him, sighing at the thought. Axel looked down at her and blushed brightly, but didn't push her away as he held her closer, relishing the feeling of their embrace. The dance continued as he held her close, her head resting against his abdomen. He quickly lifted her a little over his head and spun around, making her gasp as she wrapped her arms around his neck, him smirking at her impishly as he did so. He quickly wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her up as he moved with her holding on to him. He slowly closed his eyes, allowing himself to think as he moved.

"_This…feels right. I can't explain why, but it does. When I'm with her…everything just seems a bit brighter. Happier." _he thought as he moved. He heard her sigh a little and tightened her hold on him, thinking he was going to drop her. But he held on tight, keeping her from falling. He could feel her heart hammering in her chest as he held her, her heartbeat echoing through her chest to his.

"_I can't explain it anymore. At first, all I wanted to do was get Roxas back so our group could be whole again. But now…all I wanna do is just make her happy. Even…if it means leaving Roxas inside Sora." _his thoughts continued, as he breathed in the scent of her hair. It smelled like peppermint and pine. Like winter.

But the sudden sound of voices stopped them, causing Demyx to gasp as he stopped playing, opening a corridor as he did so. Axel quickly lowered her to the floor, looking at the door in disgust.

"C'mon, someone's coming!" Axel hissed as he took her hand, pulling her towards the corridor. She nodded and followed after the two as they pulled her in. Within seconds, it disappeared, and not a moment too soon. Because just seconds after it disappeared, Lumiere, Cogsworth, and Mrs. Potts opened the doors and looked inside, to see no one there.

"I thought I heard ze most beautiful music coming from in here." Lumiere spoke as he looked around. Cogsworth snorted.

"It must've been your imagination, Lumiere. There's no one here! Now let's go back to sleep, today's been stressful enough as it is!"

-East Wing-

"Phew…that was too close." Demyx sighed as they stood in the room Kyrie was currently using for the night. Axel nodded as he sat down on her bed, running a hand through his hair.

"One look at us and we would've ended up like Xaldin." he agreed. Kyrie looked at them and raised her eyebrows, how did they know about what happened to Xaldin? The two looked at the expression on her face before Axel continued.

"Oh yeah. We popped in a minute before the fight started, right after he kidnapped the princess of heart. We stayed up on her balcony and watched the fight from beginning to end, and disappeared after that. We have to keep a low profile, got it memorized?" he explained. She nodded in understanding before yawning. Demyx looked at her and then back at Axel, the two nobodies nodding.

"We better go. You need sleep, and we have to keep moving. The Organization's on our tails, and we have to keep planet hopping so we don't get caught." with that, he opened a dark corridor. Kyrie watched sadly as they walked toward it, before looking back at her.

"Night, Kyrie. We'll try and see you tomorrow, okay?" Demyx said softly before stepping through. Axel paused and looked back at her, it was obvious he didn't want to leave. But he had too.

"Yeah, we'll try and pop in. Stay safe, got it memorized?" She nodded as he stepped through, the corridor disappearing.

"_Yeah, I've got it memorized, Axel…"_

* * *

><p><strong>Axel:...*stare*<strong>

**Me:...*stare***

**Demyx: *blinks before turning to Xigbar* Why're they staring at each other?**

**Xigbar: Beats me. Well, I guess I'll have to take over for the author chick for now. *turns to the audience* Thanks for all of your reviews so far, dudes! I guess I'll just name a few of you for...uh, honorable mentions I guess. *pulls out a piece of paper* Okay, we thank...Loki is King, RandomnessFTW, SisterofScarletDevil, FlamingIceWolfGirl, Taeniaea, digitalstorm977, Hidden by the Sun...**

**Demyx: Okay, okay! Enough with the names, we thank everybody! *turns to the audience* Thanks a lot, guys. Now keep on reviewin'!**


	51. The Underdrome

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 51

"Okay, so the next world we're going to is Olympus Coliseum…I wonder how Herc's doing?" Sora spoke as the group looked at the map. After having breakfast and biding Beast and the others goodbye, the four were on the move again. Goofy shrugged his shoulders.

"I dunno. But I sure hope he's alright." he answered. Donald and Kyrie nodded in agreement as the girl looked out the window, lost in thought as she stared.

"_I hope he's okay too…especially after what happened the last time." _

-Later, Underworld-

"_Ugh…why did we have to come down here?" _Kyrie thought as they walked through the Underworld. Already she could feel her strength being drained, and she hadn't even been here for five minutes! The boys looked around unsteadily, before looking at each other.

"Well?" Sora asked. Goofy placed his hand so that it hovered above his eyes before looking back at him.

"The coast is clear!" he answered. Sora nodded.

"No sign of the Nobodies or the Heartless… for now anyways." he sighed. Then the group spotted something strange across what resembled a lake. It was…another coliseum?

"What's that?" Donald asked as he pointed. Sora, Goofy, and Kyrie shrugged their shoulders as she squinted her eyes to see it better.

"_Huh? Another coliseum? Did someone build it while the other one's out of commission." _Kyrie thought as she stared. But a familiar voice spoke up from behind them, startling them as they turned.

"The Underdrome. Fiends of the Underworld once clashed there…battle after battle. But Zeus didn't like the senseless violence, so he locked the place up." Auron explained as he walked towards them. Sora cocked his head to the side in curiosity while Goofy, Donald, and Kyrie waved at the man, glad to see a familiar face.

"How did it get UN-locked?" Sora asked. The man was silent for a moment before answering. "Some fool must have broken the seal."

"What an idiot." But Auron smirked a little and began to walk away, before Sora stopped him. "Where are you going, Auron? We should catch up!"

"If you need something to do, go help your friends." He answered, inclining his head to the stairs. The others looked and spotted Hercules and Meg standing on the steps that led to Olympus Coliseum before Sora, Donald, and Goofy began to walk over. Kyrie was about to walk too, before Auron stopped her.

"I don't know why you force yourself to stay down here, but if you don't want what happened the last time to repeat itself, you better get out of here." he warned. She was silent for a moment before nodding, knowing that the man was only looking out for her.

"_Like he is for Sora, Donald, and Goofy." _she thought as he turned and walked away. When he disappeared, she turned and ran back to the others just as they reached Hercules and Meg.

"Hey." Hercules spoke softly. Sora and the others smiled as the couple walked towards them.

"Herc! You feeling any better?" Sora asked. Meg rolled her eyes at the question as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Well…same routine. Wonderboy here thinks his hero days are over. And Phil thinks it's all in his head." she answered. Kyrie nodded in agreement. From the color of his skin, she could tell that he was far from normal.

"Gawrsh, Herc. We know you're a hero!" Goofy spoke, trying to encourage the man. But a voice spoke up, startling them.

"That's right…Blunderboy. How can you mope on a momentous day like today?" Suddenly, a puff of smoke appeared from behind Kyrie, making the group turn as Hades appeared.

"The Underdrome's back, and you are gonna fill the stands. After all, your fans won't settle for anything less than a certified hero." The god spoke as he walked over, putting an arm around Hercules' shoulders.

"I mean, if you're not up to it, you could always just, I dunno, LOSE?" he continued. Kyrie growled as she took a step forward with Sora following suit.

"I bet you'd like that!" he accused, pointing his finger at the god. Hades quickly disappeared and reappeared a few feet away in a puff of smoke as he continued.

"Excuse me? Hey, I'm not a selfish guy. I'm not like those high and mighty snobs up on Olympus. I stand for the masses! And have I got a massive idea!" he quickly spun, waving his arms around. Kyrie rolled her eyes and crossed her arms as she watched the god give his speech.

"The games, ladies and gentlemen…are back! Yours truly, Hades, the one and only Lord of the Dead brings you the ultimate games, to celebrate the re-opening of the ultimate coliseum! We'll finally answer the age-old question:…" he paused for a moment, wiggling his eyebrows at the group before continuing.

"Who deserves the title 'Ultimate Hero'? These games are gonna settle the debate once and for all! The winner reigns supreme. Of what? You guessed it! The Hades Cup! And I assure you that the 'Great' Hercules will be there. Otherwise… you'll never see your girlfriend again." Herc moved in front of Meg as the god said this, and Kyrie gave a low growl, summoning both keyblades and taking another step forward. Hades immediately held up his hands.

"Whoa, whoa…hold it, snowflake. I don't think a pretty little thing like yourself would want to get her hands dirty." and with that, he disappeared in a puff of smoke. Sora growled as he joined her.

"Lowlife!" he shouted angrily. But all they could hear was a chuckle from Hades. "You're too kind, kid."

"_If I was in Hercules' shoes, I would've knocked his head off!" _Kyrie thought as she dispelled her keyblades. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Hercules looked over at where Pain and Panic were standing, signing people up for the games.

"I guess we should sign up." Sora spoke as he walked over. The others nodded as the followed after him, Kyrie walking slowly after them as she felt the Underworld drain her strength.

"_Ugh…c'mon, body. Can't give up now, we've gotta help Hercules." _she thought as she followed after him. Once they got to the two henchmen, Panic looked up and squeaked in alarm.

"A-ah! H-Hercules! Uh…you're signing up for the games, yes?" Panic stammered as he looked at the group. Pain growled.

"Of course they are, Panic! Didn't you hear what Lord Hades said? He said he was gonna take his girlfriend if he didn't fight." Pain scolded. The other nodded as he pulled out a clipboard and began writing their names down.

"Okay, we've got Hercules, the boy, the duck, the dog…what about you, miss?" he asked as he looked at Kyrie. The others looked as well, and Sora gasped at how pale she looked. He looked back at Pain and Panic.

"Uh, can you excuse us for a minute? We've gotta talk."

"Sure, go right ahead. The match doesn't start for another ten minutes, anyways." Sora, Donald, and Goofy were quick to drag Kyrie away as she protested. Once they got out of hearing distance from the two henchman, the three stared at her.

"Kyrie, you can't fight with us. The Underworld drains your strength, and not even the Olympus stone helped when we were here last time!" Sora exclaimed. Donald nodded.

"Yeah, we don't wanna see you get hurt. Right, Goofy?" the dog nodded.

"We're sorry, Kyrie. But like Sora and Donald said, we just don't want ya to get hurt is all." he agreed. But Kyrie shook her head stubbornly, crossing her arms as she glared at the three. They looked at each other and sighed, there was no stopping the girl when she had her mind set on something. With that they walked back over to the two henchmen and Herc, who had been watching the entire time.

"Yeah, she's fighting with us, too. So, sign us up!"

-Later-

"Alright everyone, here's the first match! Team Hercules and Sora versus Spin Strike! And… begin!" Pain called over as he raised his tiny arms, signaling the start of the fight. Currently, the group was facing off against a group of lower-classed heartless. Kyrie and Sora summoned their keyblades immediately and ran in, with Donald and Goofy right behind them. Hercules was last as he followed into the melee, punching heartless into the air with a punch strong enough to knock a grown man off his feet. But Kyrie kept a close eye on him as they fought, concerned for the man.

"_Hercules is gonna get himself killed if he keeps fighting like that. He's not putting enough effort, and that can cost him." _she thought as she fought, knocking heartless aside with her keyblades.

"Kyrie, heads up!" Sora called as he tossed a top-like heartless at her. She nodded as she jumped, bringing both keyblades through it, cutting it in half. It disappeared immediately as she landed, and a horn sounded.

"Match over! Winner: Team Hercules and Sora!" Panic called. The group began to cheer as they jumped up and down, Kyrie smiling as she slumped to the floor.

"_Whew…that wasn't so bad, those heartless were weak." _Kyrie thought as she panted, the fight having drained her some. Sora turned to the man as he stretched.

"How'd it go out there, champ?" he asked. Hercules sighed as he slumped his shoulders, looking at the others as he did so.

"I'm just not what I used to be. Sorry for dragging you down, guys." he sighed. Sora shook his head.

"Don't throw in the towel yet, Herc! We need you in the semifinals!" Donald nodded.

"Yeah."

"Well, c'mon. Let's go and see who we're up against next!" Goofy suggested. The group nodded as they followed Pain and Panic onto the boat that would ferry them across the waters of the Underworld, and soon they were in front of the chalkboard that had the matches listed.

"We're at the semifinals…" Goofy spoke as he looked at the board. Once they got to where the semifinals were listed, Donald quacked.

"Wak! Against "Bad Alert"!" he cried. Hercules raised his eyebrow.

"Are they any good?" he asked. Sora shrugged his shoulders at this.

"It sounds like they're "bad"…but we can't chicken out now!" he encouraged. Kyrie nodded in agreement as she read, before a flash of red caught her eye. Turning, she spotted Auron as he stared at them. But there was something not right…

"_The look in his eyes…something's wrong. Really wrong." _Kyrie thought as she stared. But he quickly pulled his gaze away from hers and walked away, leaving her a bit stumped. But her attention was quickly diverted as Panic walked up, looking up at them.

"Alright, you're next match is about to start. This way." he explained as he turned, walking towards a gondola. The group followed right behind him and got on as Pain and Panic climbed in with them. After a few minutes, they were sailing across the water and onto their next match.

Once they got into the coliseum, they got right in the arena and the match began between them and the other team, which didn't look like much. Kyrie huffed as she jumped in, knocking a bomb-like heartless away with just a stroke.

"_Hmph, "Bad Alert"? They're bad all right…bad at fighting!" _she thought as she swept some of them away. But halfway through the fight, she found herself wearing out, and fast!

"_Ugh…damn Underworld…it's making me weak." _she thought as she backed off, moving to the edge of the arena. But some of the heartless caught on and followed her, making her scowl as she tried fighting them off, but it was proving too much for her. Feeling her foot give out from under her, she collapsed, just as the heartless were closing in.

"Get down!" looking up, she spotted Hercules as he ran in, knocking them away as he stood in front of her. Sora and the others caught this too, and joined them.

"Hold on, Kyrie, Herc! We're coming!" Sora called as he knocked one of the bomb-like heartless away. After a minute or so more of this, the match was over.

"Winner: Team Hercules and Sora!" Sora grinned.

"We made it to the finals!"

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><p><strong>Okay, well we're now at Olympus Coliseum. And...I don't have much to say today, so please, review!<strong>


	52. Helping Auron

**OMG...52 chapters...and I'm still not done!**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 52

"We made it to the finals!" Sora cheered, pumping his fist into the air as he did so. Donald nodded as he crossed his arms, smiling.

"If we win, we'll all be heroes!" Donald added, his smile growing at the thought. Goofy chuckled as he looked at Donald.

"Oh, so that's why you're so happy." he chuckled. Sora nodded in agreement as he turned to him.

"We can't stay Junior Heroes forever, you know." he added. Herc sighed and looked up from where he was seated, with Kyrie lying down right next to him.

"I'll try not to mess things up." he sighed. The others sighed in aggravation as Donald turned to him.

"Enough already…" he sighed. Kyrie nodded from where she was laying, too tired to sit up.

"_Yeah, Hercules. You're not a washout, and you're the only true hero we know. So stop whining! It gets very vexing." _she thought angrily. But the man looked up and spotted something. Whatever was said next Kyrie ignored as she tried to pull herself together, trying to fight off the draining effects of the Underworld.

"_Ugh…I feel so sick…" _she thought as she forced herself up. She looked over just as Sora called out to…Auron?

"Hey!" he called. But the man turned and walked out, making the three look at each other in confusion. "What was all that about?" Sora asked. The others shrugged their shoulders before Donald looked at Kyrie from over his shoulder.

"C'mon, Kyrie! We've gotta follow him!" he cried. But Kyrie was in no position for chasing anyone and Goofy nodded, walking over and helping the girl to her feet.

"Gawrsh, you sure are pale." he said uncomfortably as he looked her over. Indeed the girl was very pale as she breathed heavily, sweat gathering on her forehead and temples. Without further ado the group walked out, Goofy supporting the girl as they did so. Once they got across the water, they followed Auron into the entrance of the Underworld that led to Hades' chamber. But when they got inside, Sora skidded to a halt and pulled Donald back, making Kyrie and Goofy, as well as Donald, stare at him in confusion. He quickly held a finger to his lips and pointed, the group peering around the corner at the scene in front of them.

"Okay, let's review. State your crime, prisoner." Hades spoke as he walked back and forth in front of Auron. The man was silent for a moment, before answering.

"I exist. That is my crime. It is…inexcusable." He answered in a monotone. Sora looked at the others, his eyebrows raised.

"What's going on?" he whispered. The others shrugged their shoulders and turned their attention back to the two as their conversation continued.

"Okay, so you made one lousy mistake: you exist. But hey, I'm a forgiving guy. You keep your end of our little deal, and I'm willing to overlook a transgression or two." He spoke as he walked a few steps away, his back turned to the swordsman. Auron nodded.

"I understand. Defeat Hercules." At this, Hades glanced back at him.

"And his meddling friends." He added. Auron stared at the god in confusion.

"What? No, only Hercules." He argued. But Hades was in front of him in moments, placing his hand on the man's shoulder, shaking his head at him like a parent to a misbehaving child.

"Oh, don't tell me you've forgotten who's in charge?" he asked as he held out his other hand, a doll appearing in it. It looked like a little Auron, making Kyrie blink in confusion.

"_What's he going to do with that doll?" _she thought as she watched. Suddenly little orbs of light began to circle the doll as well as the hand that rested on Auron's shoulder, making the man wince in pain as he grimaced.

"Hercules and the other four. Are we clear?" Hades asked in a commanding tone. Auron nodded.

"We're clear, Hades."

"Lord Hades." The god corrected.

"Lord Hades…" with that, the lights and the doll disappeared and he smirked at the man.

"Good. Now go." He ordered. Auron nodded as he began to walk away, Sora and Kyrie growling as they clenched their hands tightly.

"So that's how he's controlling Auron!"

"What a jerk!" Donald added, stomping his foot as he crossed his arms.

"He'd probably think that was a compliment." Goofy sighed, shaking his head. Sora nodded in agreement.

"I can't stand seeing Auron do that lowlife's bidding…We've got to help him!" he exclaimed. The others nodded in agreement as the swordsman passed them, not even bothering to give them a second glance. Once he was gone, they followed after him, but were too late to stop him from getting on the gondola. Kyrie sighed.

"_Auron, wait! Damn…" _she thought in aggravation. Sora watched in dismay as the gondola sailed off, before a familiar voice called out.

"What's wrong, Sora?" Hercules called as he approached them. Sora and the others turned to him as he stared at the hero.

"Auron's in trouble! It's like Hades brainwashed him!" Sora explained. Goofy nodded.

"He's using some kind of statue." He elaborated, pointing to his hand in emphasis. Hercules was silent for a moment as he placed his hand against his chin.

"You know something? That sounds kinda familiar… hmm, Hades may be using the statue to hold Auron's free will hostage." At this, they gasped.

"What do we do?" Donald cried. Hercules quickly lowered his hand and looked at Sora.

"See if you can find that statue. It's gotta be somewhere in the Underworld." Sora nodded.

"Right. I'm on it!" he answered. Feeling a presence behind her, Kyrie turned and gasped as Hades appeared, silently sneaking up on the boy.

"Tell me you're not thinking of leaving. You've got a match coming up." He spoke, making Sora gasp as he ducked and moved away from the god. Hercules turned to him and smirked, crossing his arms.

"I'll fight Auron in the final. One on one."

"Oh, you will?" Hades asked in astonishment. He quickly turned and began mumbling to himself as Hercules shifted closer to the group.

"I'll draw things out to buy you time."

"But-"

"Just hurry back. I know you can do it!" he encouraged. Hades quickly turned and walked over, shaking the man's hand.

"Congratulations! You got a deal."

"Thanks."

"On one condition! The Keyblader, here, and his trusty friends, including little snowflake, have to meet the winner in one final clash, whaddaya say?" he spoke, adding to the deal. Hercules sighed at the prospect of having to face off against his friends.

"That'll drive the crowd wild…"

"It'd better. I promised the crowd the event of their afterlives." And with that, the god led the man onto an awaiting gondola. Within seconds, it was sailing off to the Underdrome, where the match would take place. Kyrie watched as they sailed away, her eyes blazing with determination.

"_Don't worry Hercules. We'll get that statue back, and help Auron. Just like he helped us."_

-A little while later-

"_Ugh…this is just getting worse." _Kyrie thought as she followed slowly after the three, having relieved Goofy of her weight and promising that she wouldn't overexert herself. But she continued losing strength, slowly but surely, as they walked deeper and deeper into the Underworld. Sora and the others checked on her periodically to see if she was okay, and this annoyed her. Greatly.

"Kyrie, are you sure you're alright? Want me or Goofy to carry you?" Sora asked for the umpteenth time that day. She growled silently as she pulled out her notebook and pen.

**Yes, Sora! I'm just fine, now would you please stop asking! If I needed help, I would've told you by now!**

"Okay, okay! Jeez, sorry…" he spoke as he continued on. She sighed, the feeling of guilt hitting her like a stack of bricks. She didn't mean to technically yell at him, but they were worrying too much about her. She was old enough to take care of herself.

When they finally got to Hades' inner Chamber, they found the statue sitting on the table, looking as if it had been placed there purposely.

"There it is!" Sora exclaimed as he reached out and took it. But the same orbs of light that had surrounded Auron earlier began to flow into him, making him gasp and grimace. Donald and Goofy quickly touched him to see what was wrong, and the same thing happened to them.

"What's going on?" Donald exclaimed. Kyrie took a few steps back, unsure of what to do.

"_What's happening? What do I do?" _she thought in alarm. But the orbs quickly faded away, as the three began to look around the room. After a few moments, Sora spoke.

"I get it. This is what belongs in Auron's heart." He explained, looking at the statue in his hand. Goofy nodded as he looked at the statue sympathetically.

"Gawrsh, he musta had a pretty rough life." He spoke, voicing his opinion. Sora nodded in agreement. "Yeah…but in the end, that's really what made him stronger."

"Let's give it back!" Donald exclaimed. Sora, Goofy, and Kyrie nodded before something white caught their attention. Gasping, they quickly summoned their weapons as Dusks slithered into the room.

"How'd they get here?" Sora exclaimed. But Kyrie quickly shook her head, now was not the time to think about that.

"_Now's the time to fight, not ask questions!" _she thought as a dusk swooped in, its target the keyblade bearer. He quickly took it out with one swing and the others followed, going after the four. The fight didn't last long as the group took out the nobodies, but what ended the melee surprised them. Some heartless showed up just as the dusks had them surrounded and pounced, one biting into the head of a dusk as it did so. The group blinked at the strange scene before Sora turned to them.

"Not what I had in mind, but I'll take it!" he cried. Goofy nodded.

"We better skedaddle!" he cried. Sora nodded, turning and running out of the chamber. Donald, Goofy, and Kyrie followed right after him, not wanting to get caught by either side as they continued fighting in the chamber.

"_I swear, the craziest things happen to us." _Kyrie thought as she ran. _"But I'm glad it did. I don't know how long I would've lasted otherwise."_

-A little while later, Underdrome-

"Now! Finish him!" Hades cried as Auron slammed his blade down, Hercules barely able to catch it with his bare hands as he held the swordsman off. The four ran in just as Hercules was losing his grip, and Sora gasped.

"Auron, no!" Sora cried as they ran in, meeting Meg and Phil. He quickly pulled out the statue as Donald called to him.

"Hey, Auron! This belongs to you!" Donald cried as Sora threw it. It flew over and right as it hovered over Auron, it exploded into little fireworks and landed on the swordsman, making him pause. He lowered his blade, Hercules sighing in relief as it rested on the ground beside him. Kyrie sighed in relief as he got to his feet.

"Sora. Donald. Goofy. Kyrie."

"Auron!" the three exclaimed. Kyrie smiled and gave a weak wave, but stopped when she caught sight of Hades glaring at them.

"Why those little- Ugh, prisoner! What happened to our mutual agreement? I can give you a clean slate, but you gotta work with me." He exclaimed. Auron was silent for a moment, before turning to him.

"Maybe you didn't hear me. This is my story, and you're not part of it." He spoke. Hades growled as he flared red, and disappeared in a fiery eruption, only to appear a few feet away from them.

"That's it! This game is over. I've played by the rules so far. Okay, I confess! I was hoping Wonderboy would lose, but it was still a fair fight. C'mon, is that really so wrong?" he exclaimed. Kyrie huffed and crossed her arms as Donald and Goofy began to laugh.

"Really? A fair fight?" Sora asked. Hades growled. "Laugh, laugh, laugh all you want! Because the laughing is about to stop. Wanna know why? Because now we're gonna play by my rules." with that, the god snapped his fingers and a door rose, revealing a swirling green vortex. Kyrie shuddered at the sight of it, she could feel the darkness coming from it, and it made her sick.

"_Ugh…what now?" _she thought with a shudder. Suddenly Meg cried out, making the group turn to her as she disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Looking around, Hercules gasped.

"Meg!" he exclaimed. The group turned and spotted her hovering over the green vortex, trapped in a swirl of smoke. "Hercules!" she cried.

"Hey, I warned you right from the get-go. You don't compete, you lose the girl." with that, he snapped his fingers and the smoke disappeared, dropping her. Within seconds Hercules jumped over, looking down into the vortex.

"No! Meg! Hang on!" and with that, he dove in after her. Hades turned to them just as the door lowered, smirking.

"Looks like Wonderboy has just dropped out of the standings." Sora and the others glared at him in disgust, clenching their fists tightly.

"Well, you've still got us to deal with!" he exclaimed. Hades smirked as he disappeared, reappearing behind him as his skin turned red.

"Oh, yeah. This is gonna be good."

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><p><strong>Yeah, this chapter and the previous one are a bit borning, but just hang with me, 'kay? The next chapter has a ton of action! That, and there's a strange twist in it. But that's all I'm revealing for now...<strong>


	53. What it means to be a True Hero

**Mm'kay! Here's chapter 53! Might not update for awhile, 'cuz of college. So...sorry!**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 53

"_Hades, you monster!" _Kyrie thought as she summoned her keyblades, Sora doing the same as the group glared at the god. He smirked at him before turning red, summoning two fireballs into the palms of his hands. He quickly threw them, making the group jump out of the way as they hit the ground, forming two pools of fire.

Sora and Auron rushed in, each swinging their blades at him, but it didn't seem to do any effect. Kyrie was the next to run in as she tried to uppercut him with one blade and hit him in the gut with the other, but her blows didn't seem to work either. She quickly jumped back to avoid a fiery blow to her head, landing a few feet away as she did so.

"_Argh, nothing we do seems to be working! What's his weakness?" _she thought as she watched Donald hurl spells at the god, only for him to brush them off as if they were dust on his clothes. She watched as Hades turned to her, a smirk on his lips.

"_What's he-" _was her only thought as he quickly reached over and grabbed Goofy, who was trying to rush at him with his shield, and hurled him at her, making her gasp as the two collided, Goofy landing where she was and her flying ten feet away. She landed with a dull thud, making the others turn to her.

"Kyrie!" Sora and Donald cried as Goofy got to his feet, looking at the girl in worry. Kyrie shook her head at them as she tried to get to her feet, but she slumped. Her limbs were aching with pain and she just realized now how tired she was, meaning one thing.

"_No…the darkness…it's taken away too much strength! I…can't fight." _she thought in dismay. Hades smirked from where he stood, crossing his arms.

"Whoops. Looks like little snowflake is too weak to get up, thanks to the curse of the Underworld! Man, do I love being down here sometimes." he gloated. Sora and Auron looked at the god before running over to the fallen girl, standing in front of her as Donald and Goofy joined them. Hades stuck a finger in his ear for a moment before pulling it out and laughing, making them growl in disgust.

"We can't win." Sora mumbled.

"How come?" Donald asked.

"Because it's his Underworld." Auron answered, getting into his attack position. Goofy gasped. "Gee, then how do we beat him?" Kyrie growled silently as she clenched her fists, trying to get herself back on her feet once more. But from behind Hades, she could see a flash of gold lift up the door that led to the green vortex, making the god turn to see what it was. But it was already gone and standing a few feet away from them, revealing Hercules and Meg.

"I think a true hero should be able to help." he spoke proudly. Hades gasped. "But…you…"

"I owe you one, Hades. I didn't hesitate to give my life for Meg's. And then, I remembered: A true hero is measured by the strength of his heart." he spoke, grinning as Pegasus landed beside him. Kyrie sighed in relief as he placed Meg down and turned to Sora. "I'll never forget that again." Sora nodded.

"Just no more crazy stunts." Hercules grinned and leaned down. "People always do crazy things when they're in love." he murmured, loud enough for Kyrie and Auron to hear, but not Hades. Sora turned to Donald and Goofy and they laughed, which seemed to piss Hades off even more.

"What is so funny, you imbeciles? How dare you get a happy ending! How DARE you!" he cried just as Pegasus flew off, with Meg on his back. Kyrie tried to move as Hades began hurling fireballs at the group, but an arm around her waist stopped her. Looking up, she saw Auron as he picked her up, running over and jumping over to where Phil was. Before she could protest, he stopped her.

"Stay here. You're too weak to fight in the Underworld, and I doubt you want to let your friends see you get hurt." he ordered. She was silent before nodding, at the moment, she was basically useless. Which irritated her to no end.

"_Ugh…I hate not being able to help them. We're a team…" _she thought as the man ran back over to assist them. Pegasus landed right beside her, with Meg jumping off as she and Phil went to assist the girl.

"Are you okay, kid?" Phil asked as he looked her over. The girl was sickly pale, a light sheen of sweat on her brow as her hands trembled slightly. She gave a small nod, and turned her attention to the fight in front of her. She watched as Sora, Donald, Goofy, Auron, and Hercules took Hades head on, with the hero being able to land blows on the god. He was able to create spheres that made Hades' skin return to it's blue color, allowing the group to actually land blows on him this time around.

"_Wow…Hercules is sure something." _she thought as she watched in amazement. The group continued fighting the god, and before long, Hades was worn out, too tired to continue. He stumbled back a few steps, holding a hand over his heart as he panted heavily. Sora ran over and was about to slam his keyblade down on the god's head before he disappeared in a puff of smoke, only to reappear in front of the swirling vortex.

"It's…not over…yet…" he groaned as he panted, walking a few steps back. But his foot slipped, making him gasp as he waved his arms around, before he fell back, right into the swirling vortex. Kyrie smiled as she clapped her hands together.

"_They won! They did it!" _she thought joyously, forcing herself to her feet as she stumbled a few steps. Phil and Meg gasped as she did this, and tried to stop her.

"Hey, wait-" Phil cried as she jumped over, running over to them before her foot slipped, making her stumble forward. Sora, Donald, and Goofy gasped as they ran forward to catch her, only to bump heads and fall on the ground, with her falling on top. She looked down at them as they looked up at her, before smiles cracked on their faces. The group laughed loudly as she rolled off, giggling silently as Sora and Goofy helped her to her feet, the group clasping hands as they jumped around in a circle.

"We did it! We won!" Sora cried as they jumped. Kyrie nodded as she hugged the three, making them blink owlishly at her before smiling and hugging her back. She smiled.

"_Congratulations, guys."_

-Outside the Underdrome-

The group was silent as they stared at Auron, now was the time to say goodbye.

"What'cha gonna do now?" Donald asked the swordsman as they stared at him. He was silent for a moment, before answering.

"I lived my life defending others. But now…there's no one left to protect. Maybe…it's time I shaped my own story." he spoke. Sora nodded in agreement.

"Yeah…you deserve it, Auron- after everything you've been through." he said solemnly. Auron smirked at the boy. "I suppose I should thank you."

"Not at all." Sora said immediately. He smirked as he turned away. "Fine." this made the three slump and Kyrie giggle silently at the expressions on their faces.

"I mean, sure, you could thank us a little…"

"_Sora, you really should say what you mean. Sometimes people wouldn't get the hints." _Kyrie thought, a smile on her face as she held her arms behind her back.

"You should say what you mean." Auron spoke as he turned to them. He looked the four over for a moment, before speaking.

"I guess I could spare a few words. Thanks for meddling." this made them slump again before Sora regained his composure.

"Hey, what's that mean?" he cried. But the man simply walked away, leaving it at that. Kyrie smiled fondly and gave a wave, knowing the man wouldn't see it.

"_Goodybye, Auron. I hope…you find what you're looking for."_

-A few minutes later, Coliseum-

It was nighttime at the Coliseum as the four walked out of the Underworld, approaching Hercules and Meg as they stood in front of the ruins. The man looked at them and smiled.

"Thanks again, guys! You're the best." He said gratefully. Donald huffed and crossed his arms, looking away.

"Excuse us for meddling…" Meg gave a small chuckle as she looked at the duck.

"Aw…sounds like somebody's feathers are a little ruffled. I'm kidding. Thank you, Sora, Donald, Goofy, Kyrie." Kyrie perked up at this and smiled, glad to at least be on good terms with the young woman.

"So where you guys headed next?" Hercules asked as he crossed his arms. Sora, whose arms were already crossed, looked at him.

"Aw, you know…You two lovebirds seem to be getting along just fine without us hanging around." The two blushed brightly as he said this and stepped away from each other, making the rest laugh quietly at the sight.

"Yeah, we gotta go." Donald added. Goofy nodded in agreement and Kyrie joined in, both having no objections to the idea. "Uh-huh, before we start meddlin'."

"Right."

"Are you turkeys trying to put me out of a job? If you keep acing every challenge, Champ, who am I gonna train?" Phil exclaimed as he walked over. Hercules gasped and pumped his fist.

"Aw, you can't abandon me now, Phil! I gotta be at the top of my game in case Hades shows up again." He explained. But Donald was right in Phil's face, looking at him eagerly.

"Hey, are we true heroes yet?" he asked. Sora smiled and joined in as he knelt down by the duck and satyr.

"Yeah! C'mon, Phil, how 'bout it?" he asked, pointing to his face. The satyr sighed as he placed a hand on his chin.

"Lemme see now…Well, you're not wise enough, not quite…seasoned enough…" Sora and Donald sighed as they glared at him.

"Okay, okay, we get the hint!"

"Look, kid, it's not my call!" Phil explained. Donald sighed.

"Aw, phooey." Kyrie and Goofy smiled at this, the two really didn't care if they made hero or not. When their time came, their time came.

"Course if it was, you'd have no problem. I'd make you all heroes, in a heartbeat!" Sora and Donald smiled at this.

"Really?"

"Say it again!"

"On second thought, if those are your "hero" faces, you still got a lotta work to do." Phil spoke as he began walking away. But Sora and Donald weren't going to leave it at that.

"Hey, what do you mean?"

"Go away!"

"Phil!"

"Leave me alone!" Goofy, Meg, and Hercules laughed as they watched the two chase the satyr around, Kyrie smiling as she watched. After a few minutes, Meg turned and looked at the sky. She nudged the man beside her.

"See that?"

"Well, whaddaya know…" Kyrie and Goofy looked up at the sky as well, and gasped. The stars were moving to form out three familiar shapes. Sora and Donald stopped as well and they, along with Goofy, began to jump up and down at the sight. Kyrie gave a small, sad smile.

"_I still have a long way to go before I can become a true hero. But…that's okay. Right now…I can wait." _she thought as she turned, spotting Phil crying into his arm. Goofy stopped and looked at her, realizing that her image didn't appear.

"Gawrsh, I'm sorry Kyrie." he spoke, causing her to stiffen and look at him. Sora and Donald stopped as well, just now realizing that her image didn't appear alongside theirs.

"Wait, how come her image didn't appear? Isn't she a true hero, too?" Sora asked as he turned to Hercules. The man shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't think so. Sorry Sora, Kyrie." Hercules spoke, looking at the girl. Phil stopped crying and looked at her, his smile widening.

"So I still have a junior hero to train? Yes!" he cried. Donald and the others glared at him before Kyrie stopped them, shaking her head. She quickly pulled out her notebook and began to write.

**It's okay, guys. I still have a long way to go before I can be a true hero like the rest of you. But it's okay, I can wait. There's no need to rush things.**

The group was quiet before Hercules smiled.

"That's the spirit, Kyrie. Things take time, like they did for me, so it's okay not to rush into it." he agreed. Sora, Donald, and Goofy looked at each other and smiled, before turning to her.

"Yeah Kyrie, like Phil said! If it was our call, we'd make you a hero too! In a heartbeat!" Sora exclaimed, pointing to his chest. Kyrie smiled and nodded.

"_Thank you…everyone." _and with that, the four bade the group farewell as they returned to the Gummi ship, ready to head off on their next adventure.

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><p><strong>Remember last chapter when I mentioned that plot twist? Yep. That was the twist. *points to the last part of the chapter* Poor Kyrie, she'll have to wait to get those "true hero wings". Now don't you guys go and get your panties, boxers, knickers in a bunch! There's a reason why she didn't get her true hero wings so-<strong>

**Saix: Liar. You just didn't want to be meshed in with all of those other writer's who's OCs have gotten their "hero wings" in a short time after meeting the company at Olympus Coliseum. **

**Me:...**

**Demyx: You're not gonna deny it?**

**Me: ...Well Demyx, Saix, let me put it this way...*walks over, stares at Saix, then kicks him between the legs* NEVER QUESTION THE AUTHOR!**

**Xemnas: Number 7!**

**Me: *turns to the audience* Please review and tell me what you think! In the meantime, I'm going to teach Saix and Xemnas why they should never question or insult the writer of the story. *goes back to torturing said nobodies***


	54. A Pyro's Feelings

**Hey, guys, sorry for taking a few days to update. For one, right now I've gotten a case of the flu, so I might not update for some time. AGAIN. That, and now it's getting hard to attend college classes because of it. Thank god it's the weekend...**

**But never fear! I will update ASAP!**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 54

Everyone sighed as they got onto the Gummi ship, exhausted after the day's events.

"Man, fighting down in the Underworld sure takes a lot out of you." Sora murmured as he stretched, trying to relax his tired muscles. Kyrie nodded as she sat down, relaxing herself in her chair. Donald looked at the girl before walking over, stopping in front of her as he looked at her apprehensively.

"Kyrie, I'm…I'm sorry." She raised her eyebrow at the duck as he continued. "Well, I shoulda been able to trust ya after what happened at the Beast's castle… but I didn't. I'm sorry for not trusting you." Sora and Goofy were silent as Kyrie and Donald stared back at each other, before she smiled and knelt down, wrapping her arms around the duck. He blinked at her in confusion as she pulled back and retrieved her notebook.

**It's all right, Donald. You had every right to not trust me after finding out about the truth, so I didn't blame you for that. But it makes me happy to know that you trust me, now. **

The duck smiled and nodded, making Sora and Goofy smile as well.

"Well, let's set the ship to autopilot so we can take a break. I'm bushed!"

-The Next Day-

Kyrie awoke with a start as the ship shook, throwing Donald and Sora out of their chairs as Goofy jumped, now awake. The four rushed over to the screen, looking to see what caused the commotion. But with one look at the windows, Kyrie backed up, her eyes widening.

"_Oh no…we're in Atlantica!" _she thought in dismay. Sora and the others smiled as they looked at the windows and screen, clearly taking this news much better than Kyrie.

"We're back in Atlantica! I wonder how Ariel, Flounder, and Sebastian are doing." Sora spoke as he looked out the window. Kyrie shrugged her shoulders, trying her best to not look at the windows. Goofy turned to them.

"Whaddaya say we go and find out!" he suggested. Sora and Donald nodded eagerly as they got ready to leave. Sora looked at Kyrie as Donald and Goofy headed below, eyebrow raised.

"You're not coming?" he asked. She nodded and he sighed, but chose not to argue further.

"Oh, okay then. We'll see you in a bit, and watch the ship!" he called as he followed after the two. Kyrie nodded as she grabbed her backpack and walked into the room where the bunks were, sitting down and sifting through her backpack. After a few moments, she had her sketchbook, utensils, and her plush resting beside her as she made herself comfortable.

"_Since I'm going to be stuck inside her for awhile, I might as well draw. But what can I draw?" _she thought as she opened her sketchbook and grabbed her pencil. She stared at the paper for a few moments, before an idea came to her. Smiling, she began to draw, her eyes and mind focused solely on the paper in front of her.

Her pencil danced across the page as she drew, her eyes narrowed and her tongue sticking out slightly as she did so. A few times she withdrew her pencil for an eraser and erased, before getting right back to work. She didn't know how long she spent drawing this one picture, but when she was done, she lifted it up and shook it before smiling in satisfaction.

The picture was of two people, a man and a woman, dancing. The man was dressed entirely in black and the woman was dressed in white as they danced, the man holding the woman up as they did so. She had her arms wrapped tightly around his neck as her head rested on his shoulder, a smile clear on her face. White hair mixed with red as the her hair flowed over her shoulders, wrapping the two in its white tendrils. The picture was of her an Axel from the other night, dancing in the moonlight as it shown through the windows. She smiled softly at the picture, before looking at the ceiling.

"_Axel…where are you? What are you doing, right now?"_

-Meanwhile, Axel-

Axel was silent as he walked along the streets of Hollow Bastion, careful to stay away from any civilians as well as the "Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee". Demyx was tagging along behind him, looking around as he hummed to himself. But Axel wasn't caring what the melodious nocturne did at the moment, his attention was on elsewhere. His thoughts were focused on a certain white-haired young woman who was currently traveling all over the worlds with a young boy, a bipedal dog, and a duck.

"_Kyrie…" _he thought as he walked, his arms crossed as he did so. Ever since the other night, all he's been thinking about is her. The feeling of her in his arms, the scent of her hair, her smile…

"Axel! Watch-" but it was too late as the pyro slammed face-first into a wall. Demyx stopped for a moment, before howling with laughter as he fell over, landing the ground as he continued to laugh his ass off. Axel quickly took a few steps and covered his face with his hands, groaning as he did so.

"_Damn…that hurts…!" _he thought as he held his hands over his face, trying to suck it up and take it like a man. Which, he did very well, despite himself. When he pulled his hands away from his face, he glared at the water mage, clenching his fists.

"What the hell is so funny?" he shouted. Demyx stifled his chuckles as he slowly got to his feet.

"Y-you walked right into the wall! That was hilarious!" he exclaimed as he began laughing again. Even if he couldn't feel laughter, he didn't hesitate to act it out, especially in situations like this. Axel growled as his cheeks flared crimson, before turning away. He began walking away, willing himself not to roast the annoying man as said man followed right behind, still laughing.

"Aw, c'mon, Ax! You have to admit, it was pretty funny." Demyx cried out as he tried to keep up with the red-haired man. Axel growled and kept walking, if Demyx didn't shut his trap soon he would-

"Besides, seeing you all spacey because you're thinking about Kyrie is funny, too." at this, he stopped dead in his tracks, with Demyx running into his back and falling on his behind. The pyro turned to him, anger blazing in his eyes.

"I am not thinking about her!"

"You are, too! C'mon, just admit it! You're worried about her and in your shoes, who wouldn't be?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

The two men were silent as they stared at each other, before Demyx got to his feet and brushed himself off.

"So, when are you gonna ask her to be your girlfriend?" he asked out of the blue. If Axel had been drinking something at this moment, he would've spluttered it all over the place.

"W-what-?"

"Oh, come on, Ax! Don't tell me you haven't thought about asking Kyrie out! If you don't ask her out soon, someone else will!" Demyx protested. Axel was silent as he looked away, he had thought about it. For a while now. Demyx was silent for a moment before continuing.

"You've known her almost as long as you've known Roxas, and when she was in the Organization, you would go crazy worrying whether or not she'd make it back. You were constantly around her, and always stood up for her whenever Larxene would harass her when **she** was still around. You protected her, comforted her, and looked out for her when she was still with us." he explained. Axel continued to stay silent as he continued.

"Then when she got thrown out of the Organization to follow after Sora, you became miserable. I mean, sure, you were depressed when Roxas left, but she was there for you. But when she got thrown out, I thought you were gonna follow after her and abandon the Org. So don't you see? You do like her, and you care for her." he spoke, finishing his explanation. Things were silent between the two men for a few minutes, before Axel spoke up.

"Demyx, I…" Axel paused as he sighed, before continuing. "Demyx, she is important to me. And I have thought about asking her to be my girlfriend. But…"

"But…?" Demyx questioned, his eyebrow raised.

"But…I couldn't take it if she rejected me. And when girls reject guys, they tend to avoid them. I couldn't take it if she started to avoid me, I could hardly take it after that big fight we had. So I can't ask her. End of discussion." Demyx was silent for a moment, before protesting.

"But Axel, Kyrie wouldn't avoid you because of that. And I'm sure she feels the same way-"

"You don't know that, Dem. Kyrie's a nice girl, but if I tried to force my... "feelings" on her, she wouldn't know what to do. Then I would've ruin the friendship we had and I'd lose her. I just can't…" he sighed angrily as he turned away. Demyx was silent before taking a few steps forward, placing a hand on the man's arm.

"But Axel, you can't just leave it at that. It's not fair to you, and it's not fair to her. Just try, just ask her. Because if someone else asked her and she accepted, you would lose her forever." the pyro was silent as he contemplated this. If someone had came and taken her away from him, he wouldn't know what to do. After a few minutes, he sighed.

"All right. I guess I can try…but if I was right an she starts avoiding me, then I get to burn you to a crisp. Got it memorized?" he growled, glaring at him. Demyx gulped and nodded.

"S-sure, Ax! Got it memorized!"

"_I really hope my suspicions were right…otherwise I'm toast." _

-Later, Kyrie-

Kyrie was silent as she finished another drawing. This one was of her, Axel, Roxas, and Xion sitting on the station tower, eating ice-cream back when she worked for the Organization. It was one of the days Axel talked about the color red, how it was the one color that reached the farthest. Roxas and Xion had rolled their eyes at this, but Kyrie nodded as she listened to him. He looked at her and smirked, placing a hand on her head as he began ruffling her hair.

"_That's why I like red so much. Got it memorized?" _

She smiled fondly at the memory as she slowly flipped the pages back to the first page. Each page in this sketchbook held a memory, a scene frozen in time from her perspective. She began flipping through the pages, looking at each drawing as she did so. One was of the time Demyx had slipped on some jam that had fallen on the floor in the dinning room, sending him to the ground and his food splattering all over his uniform. The others had laughed as Kyrie and Xigbar helped the man to his feet, trying to bite back their smiles as he glared at the others.

Flipping through the next pages, she saw scenes from her adventures in the Organization, as well as her adventures with Sora, Donald, and Goofy. Landing on the last used page, she quickly closed the book and got to her feet, walking out of the bunkroom and into the main part of the ship. The sea outside had grown dark and foreboding, making her look outside worriedly as she held her hands over her chest, her body trembling in fear.

"_I hope they're alright…" _she thought as she stared outside, trying not to focus on the water. But it was incredibly hard to do so, since the ship was completely surrounded by it. Suddenly the water outside began to distort, the current growing rougher as the ship shook, sending her to the floor.

"_What's happening?" _she thought as she held onto the arm of a chair, trying to get herself back on her feet. But the ship shook again, throwing her to the wall this time. Getting to her feet, she stumbled and got to a chair, seating herself in it and holding on tight as the ship shook. It seemed like forever as the ship shook violently, trying to throw the girl around as she clung tightly to the chair, not daring to let go. But after awhile, it suddenly stopped, the sea outside seeming to calm down as it did so. It took Kyrie a few minutes to relinquish her hold on the chair, but when she decided that it was safe to get up, she quickly stood and looked around.

"_What was that about?" _she thought as she looked around. She didn't dare go near the window because of her fear of the ocean, so she decided to go sit down and wait for the trio to return.

She didn't know how long she sat in her chair and waited, but when she heard the familiar sounds of bickering, she quickly got to her feet and watched as the three walked in, with Sora and Donald bickering. Blinking at them in confusion, she turned to Goofy for an explanation. The dog simply smiled and shrugged.

"Aw, don't worry about it. Their argument is kinda silly." he assured her. She was silent before nodding, smiling. Sora growled as he glared at Donald.

"Donald, I'm telling you! You weren't supposed to sing that line!"

* * *

><p><strong>Oooh...Axel's got a dirty little secret!~<strong>

**Axel: Shouldn't you be in bed? You're sick.**

**Me:...**

**Kyrie: *writes* **He's right, K-chan. You should be in bed.

**Me: Muh~ fine! *goes to bed***

**Demyx: See ya on the next update! And remember to review!**


	55. Shocking Encounter

**Demyx: *takes out cue card* Okay, the author is still sick so we KH characters are gonna take over for her today!**

**Kairi: Really? That's weird.**

**Xemnas: There must be some alterior motive...**

**Riku: ...Or it could be that she's sick with the flu. **

**Namine: Besides, she almost always lets us say a few words or so every chapter. Most of the time.**

**Saix: Stop this foolishness and get back to work!**

**Demyx: Okay, okay! Alright, here's the disclaimer. K-chan does NOT own anything KH related. Square Enix does.**

**Kyrie: *writes* **_But she does own me. _

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 55

After their argument had settled down, Donald set course for the next world, which happened to be Port Royal. Kyrie smiled as she relaxed in her chair, watching Sora bounce up and down in his seat in anticipation.

"_Port Royal…I wonder how Jack, Elizabeth, and Will are doing." _she thought with a soft smile. The second they got to the Rampart, Sora ran over to look over the town of Port Royal, a grin on his face.

"We're back!" he called excitedly. Kyrie smiled and nodded as she joined him, but a familiar figure caught her eye as she looked down, to see Jack Sparrow surrounded by…undead pirates?

"_Huh, Jack? Undead pirates? But I thought the curse was lifted!" _she thought as she stared. She quickly grabbed Sora's arm and gave it a harsh tug, snapping the boy out of his thoughts as she pulled him towards the stone stairs.

"Kyrie- hey! Why're you-" he cried, but she continued to drag him, with Donald and Goofy right behind them. Halfway down the stairs, Sora spotted Jack and the undead pirates and acted immediately, rushing past her to assist the pirate. Once they got down the stairs, Sora called out to him.

"Jack!" he cried, trying to get the man's attention. Jack turned his head slightly towards them, taking note of their presence.

"Zola! Some assistance!" he cried. Sora snorted as he summoned his keyblade, but ran to the man's side none the less.

"That's SORA, Donald, Goofy, and Kyrie!" but the man sighed. "Will ye leave a mate to perish?" Kyrie giggled silently as she summoned her keyblades, getting ready for battle.

"Aye aye..." Sora muttered as he ran in, slamming his keyblade into the first pirate who rushed at him. Jack and Goofy followed right after him, while Kyrie stayed behind with Donald, who was taking the weaker pirates out with magic.

The fight didn't last long, since they're weakness was the moonlight itself, and before long they were all taken cared of. The five regrouped as they dispelled their weapons, Kyrie looking around anxiously as she did so.

"_Those were cursed pirates…but why? I thought we had seen the last of the Aztec curse. Did someone…?" _she thought as she looked at Jack. Her eyes narrowed for a second, before she shook her head. _"No, he couldn't have done it. Jack knows better than to steal back cursed treasure. Despite his nature."_

"I'd thought we'd seen the last of the curse of the Aztec gold…what gives?" Sora asked as he turned to Jack. The man was quiet for a moment before shrugging, waving his hand as he did so.

"Some scallywag must've got greedy. Oh, I see…you don't trust me, do you?" he asked as he looked at them. Sora, Donald, and Goofy nodded while Kyrie shook her head, making the three blink at her in confusion. Turning to them, she whipped out her notebook and began writing.

**Why would Jack take the treasure? I realize that he is a pirate, but even I think Jack isn't stupid enough to take cursed treasure after one of his enemies swiped it and got cursed himself. No offense, Jack.**

"None taken, lass. But it would be a wise choice to not trust me, mates. After all, I am a pirate." he spoke, waving his hands in his usual manner. Kyrie huffed and placed her hands on her hips, was Jack trying to make everyone suspicious of him?

"_I swear, at times he can be almost as bad as Axel when it comes to others trusting him." _she thought with a huff.

"Jack! Sora!" a familiar voice called out, making Kyrie flinch. The others jumped and turned as they spotted Elizabeth running to him, holding up some of her dress as she did so. Jack was about to turn and walk away, before Elizabeth stopped him.

"Wait, Jack! The cursed pirates have returned. Will had to find out why, so he went to Isla de Muerta to check on the Aztec treasure. I fear something's happened. You have to take me to him." She explained. The pirate was silent for a moment before sighing and turning to her.

"Aye, there it is. If you'll be wanting him rescued, best do it alone, lass." He spoke, completely turning the young woman down. Kyrie gasped and blinked at him, why was he so reluctant to help? Elizabeth scoffed.

"Alone? Really, Jack? Sail to the island and take on the cursed pirates?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips. He shrugged. "Well, if any lass could…"

"Are you sure he's in trouble?" Sora asked, turning away from Jack to face her. The young woman was silent for a moment before slowly shaking her head.

"No. Not certain. But he's been gone too long. I wanted to go with him, but he insisted I stay here. I can't just sit and wait! I've got to know if he's all right." She explained. Kyrie was silent before smiling.

"_She really does care for him…so much that she's willing to go into danger just to see if he's all right. It's…really sweet." _She thought, giving a soft sigh. The woman turned to him, looking extremely desperate.

"Please, Jack! Take me to him!" she begged. The man was silent before holding up a hand. "Hold a moment. I see no profit in it for me."

"I shall reward you. Of course…you do owe Will. He has saved your life before." Elizabeth spoke, pointing out how Jack's dept to him. He was about to protest before stopping, sighing as he did so.

"Right. Shall we?"

-A little while later-

Kyrie sighed as she stood in the center of the deck, still not comfortable around pirate ships or any ships of the sort. The ship rocked back and forth beneath her feet, reminding her of the ocean that was beneath. Shuddering, she decided to head below deck and clear her head, at least for a little while.

"_Besides, hearing Jack and Elizabeth bicker is really getting on my nerves." _she thought with a huff as she opened the door, heading below deck. Unlike the Interceptor, the Pearl was a bit messier. But since it used to carry a bunch of undead men, it didn't really surprise her. Throwing off some dirty sheets and clothes off one of the hammocks, she settled herself down and closed her eyes, listening to the creaking of the ship. She stiffened though when she heard the familiar sound of a dark corridor opening. Cracking an eye, her eyes flashed open immediately as Demyx and Axel appeared in the cabin. Demyx smiled.

"Hey, Kyrie! We finally found you!" he cried as she sat up, walking over and ruffling her hair as he did so. She smiled and protested as she tried to get the water mage to stop ruffling her hair, while Axel watched on from where he stood.

"We've been looking for you everywhere, and we decided to come here last because Luxord's here and we didn't wanna get caught. But I'm glad we came, it's great to see you!" he continued. She blinked in confusion, Luxord was here?

"_Well, I think that's our culprit." _she thought, pulling out her notebook.

**It's great to see you too, Demyx, Axel. I missed you both so much, and I've been really worried. Are you guys doing okay? Sleeping well? Eating well?**

"Of course we are! Although it has been hard trying to find a decent place to sleep. We've been sleeping in abandoned houses, warehouses, ruins…" he answered as he began to list the places the two had to sleep in. Axel gave a huff where he stood, making Kyrie blink at the pyro in confusion. Realizing that he hadn't followed after him, Demyx turned to him.

"Hey, Ax. Aren't you gonna say hi to her?" he asked, confused. The pyro gave the nocturne a hard look and he gulped, realizing that he wanted to talk to Kyrie. Alone. Turning to the girl, he gave her one more pat on the head before opening a corridor. The girl blinked at him in confusion as he turned to look at her.

"I'm going to go and make sure Luxord doesn't know that we're here. It'd be really bad if he were to catch us, with his power over time." and with that, he was gone, leaving Kyrie and Axel alone in the cabin. The two stared at each other silently for a few minutes, Axel in hesitation, and Kyrie in confusion.

"_C'mon Axel, get a grip. All you're doing is just asking her to be your girlfriend, nothing else." _he thought, clenching his fists tightly. He quickly walked over and sat next to her, making her jump at his sudden movements. She quickly turned to him and watched as he looked away, not meeting her gaze.

"_Something's wrong…but what?" _she thought as she stared at him. Reaching out, she placed her hand against his cheek, making him jump and stare at her in confusion. Pulling it away, she wrote in her notebook and passed it to him.

**Axel, is something wrong? You don't seem like yourself today.**

"No, everything's fine, Kyrie." he answered. She quickly pulled her notebook back and wrote more, before passing it to him again.

**Axel, you know you can always talk to me about anything, right? I'm here to listen if there's something you need to tell me. **

The pyro was silent as he read her words before taking a deep breath. _"Okay, here goes nothing…"_

Without warning, he leaned in, his face close to hers. She felt her cheeks warm up and explode with color as his eyes slowly closed, his lips just inches from her. She felt her body freeze and her eyes widen, she didn't know what to do. Her mind became completely blank, the butterflies in her stomach returned, and she felt her heart hammering wildly inside her chest as he inched closer. And just as they were about to touch-

"Hey, Ax, Kyrie, I'm back! Luxord wasn't close so I thought I'd-" Demyx started but stopped the second he stepped out of the corridor, making Axel snap his eyes open, both blushing furiously as they jumped back. The melodious nocturne blinked in confusion, before realizing what he had just interrupted.

"Oh…uh…sorry!"

"Demyx…" Axel growled as he clenched his fist, glaring at the man angrily. Kyrie looked away, her face bright red as she tried to calm her heart as it pounded wildly inside her chest. But the pyro sighed, getting to his feet.

"We better go, before someone catches us." he muttered as he opened a corridor. Demyx nodded furiously as he ran in, and right before he could follow, Kyrie grabbed his wrist. He looked back and saw the hurt in her eyes and felt something throb inside him, where his heart should've been. He gave a sigh.

"I'm sorry." and with that, he was gone. She stared sadly at the spot where he had been, her hands held tightly over her chest.

"_Axel…"_

-A few minutes later-

Kyrie sighed as she walked up to the deck, her mind in a whirl. Did Axel…care for her, like she did for him? She didn't know what to think, because Axel didn't have a heart. He could never care about her in that way, never. And this thought broke her heart.

"_But…I want him to…feel the same way. Is this what Belle was talking about, how it hurts knowing your feelings can never be returned?" _she thought as she stepped onto the deck.

"_But…how do I feel about him? Do I love him? Or is he nothing more than a friend to me? I wish I could know…" _her thoughts continued as she walked over to Goofy, who was leaning over the railing. The dog looked at her from the corner of his eye, and saw the sadness in her eyes.

"Gawrsh, is something wrong, Kyrie?" he asked. She paused for a moment, before shaking her head. He gave a small shrug before spotting something from the corner of his eye, leaning over the railing to get a better look. Kyrie leaned over as well, trying to keep her attention from the water below them. A ship was sailing towards them, and they recognized it immediately.

"Interceptor off the starboard bow!" Goofy called to the others as he and Kyrie pointed. They came over just as the ship sailed up next to them, the group gasping when the spotted a familiar figure slumped over the railing.

"Will!" Elizabeth exclaimed. Jack took a few steps back and bowed his head, placing his hat over his chest. She scowled at him.

"Stop that, Jack! We have to rescue him!" she spoke. The others nodded as Sora and Donald lowered the gangplank, Jack, Elizabeth, and Goofy rushing over to help the man onto the Pearl. Once he was on board, they rushed him into the Captain's Stateroom, where Elizabeth and Kyrie began to tend to him.

"Will, wake up." Elizabeth urged as she patted his face gently. The man gasped quietly as he started to regain consciousness, looking around the room blearily.

"Elizabeth…"

"What happened?" She asked softly. He was quiet for a moment as he tried to remember, before speaking.

"The medallions…and the stone chest- someone's taken them…the next thing I knew, we were attacked…but I couldn't see who it was- his face was shrouded…in a black hood." he explained. Kyrie blinked at him before growling silently, she knew who it was.

"The Organization!" Sora whispered. Getting to her feet, she walked a few steps away as he continued.

"We found a way out of the cave…but the villain sent a horde of terrible creatures after us…I've never seen their likes before…I think I'm the only one who made it back to the ship…"

"Will…" she spoke sadly. He looked at her. He was losing consciousness and fast.

"Elizabeth…I feel rather…" and with that he went unconscious once more. She quickly leaned him against the wall and began looking over him once more as Sora turned to the others.

"Our turn, guys." he whispered. The woman got to her feet and turned to them, concern clear on her expression. "You'd best go prepared. We've no idea what's out there." but Jack held up his arms, stopping them.

"Pardon me, lads and lasses, but your captain will have no monsters today. Thank ye. We're turning for home." and with that, he turned and walked away. Elizabeth scowled.

"Just like that?"

"Just like that!" he answered. The others turned and stared at him in shock before they followed after him, wanting to convince the man otherwise. But once he opened the doors and stepped outside, he stopped.

"Don't remember invitin' you." He spoke in irritation. The others looked around him and gasped as a man in an organization uniform stood on the ship, next to the stolen chest. Sora and the others ran in, weapons drawn.

"So it **was** the Organization. We'll handle this!" Sora called as he held his keyblade. Kyrie nodded as she drew both keyblades, knowing who this man was. But the man held up a hand, stopping them.

"The Darkness of men's hearts- drawn to these cursed medallions; and this Heartless- a veritable maelstrom of avarice:" suddenly a grim reaper-like heartless appeared behind him as he continued to pace, making Kyrie scowl.

"I wonder, are they worthy to serve Organization XIII?" he finished. Jack rolled his eyes at the man.

"And you want an answer now?"

"Precisely!"

* * *

><p><strong>Maluxia: Axel, you dog!<strong>

**Axel: Dammit, I was THIS close! ARGH! *headdesk***

**Roxas: ^^; Uh...it's okay, Axel. Maybe next time.**

**Xion: Yeah, next time.**

**Sora: So keep reading, guys! And review, don't forget to review!**

**Donald: Sora!**

**Goofy: He's right, Donald. Reviews help keep the author lady happy!**

**Sora: Right. So review! And see you next chapter! *waves***


	56. Jack's Grim Predicament

**Demyx: 0.0; ...Holy crap. So many people wanna kill me now- *gets knocked out***

**Kirkysaurus: That's for ruining the kiss-scene! *picks him up* I'm kidnapping you so you can't interrupt their next kiss attempt!**

**Namine: But we need Demyx because Author's still sick!**

**Me:... I'm not dying, okay? GOD! It's just the flu...**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 56

"Precisely!" Luxord spoke as he disappeared, allowing his heartless to go after the group. Kyrie growled silently as she rushed in, aiming to take her anger out on the heartless before her.

"Kyrie, wait-" Sora cried as she rushed in, but stopped when she looked back at him. Her eyes were red, and her right eye showed black swirling in her iris as she glared at him, her anger speaking volumes. He gave a small nod and she continued on, slamming her keyblades into the scythes' staff, pushing the large heartless back.

Sora and the others rushed in behind her as she held it off, dealing blows to the defenseless heartless as it tried to fend off the girl. Finally getting some leverage, the heartless swung its staff, sending the girl and the others flying as they landed on the deck, with her getting thrown into the mast. She gasped in pain as she slid down, her back throbbing painfully as she did so.

"_Ugh…that's gonna leave a bruise." _she thought as she got to her feet. Sora and the others had it cornered again as she rushed in, slamming her keyblades into the massive scythe once more. After a few minutes, Sora, Jack, and Kyrie worked together and sent the heartless flying into the water, making a massive splash as it did so. Donald jumped in joy.

"Oh boy!" he cheered. But Sora stopped him.

"Not over yet!" he cried as he, Jack, Kyrie, and Goofy glared at Luxord as he stood next to the chest. The man reached up and lowered his hood, revealing platinum blonde hair, goatee, and multiple ear piercings as he stared at them.

"Throw him overboard!" Jack ordered as he pointed to the man. Sora and Kyrie nodded.

"Aye aye!" but the man held his hand up.

"Parley!" he exclaimed, making Jack jerk in surprise.

"'Scuse me?" he asked, surprised that the man knew the term. Goofy looked between them in confusion.

"Barley?"

"It's a bit of a pirates' code. Anyone who invokes "parley" must not be harmed 'til the negotiations are complete." Jack explained. Kyrie sighed, not surprised that Luxord knew such a term. Especially since it was close to gambling as it could be, in a strange sense. Sora turned to him.

"This is no time for rules!" he argued. But Jack stopped him.

"True. But as we're honorable pirates we should always stick to the Code." He explained as he took a few steps forward. "All right, you. Out with it!"

"I surrender the chest with my humblest apologies." He spoke as he indicated the chest. But Kyrie's eyes narrowed, after all the trouble of getting it, there was no possible way he was going to give the chest up without a fight.

"Rather accommodating of you, mate. And for that you want…?"

"Just a few souvenirs…for the memories." And with that, he reached into the chest and grabbed a few medallions, throwing them up into the air as four Gambler Nobodies came out of the water, swiping them and disappearing.

"Oh, no! We can't stop the curse unless we got all the medallions!" Goofy exclaimed. Luxord smirked at him smugly before turning to Kyrie.

"As for you, young Kyrie, the Superior wishes to inform you of his regrets and would like for you to accompany me back to the Organization. He wants to make a deal with you in regards to your friends and the traitors." he explained. Jack, Sora, Donald, and Goofy looked at her as she stared at him, completely silent as she contemplated his words. Wordlessly, she pulled out her notebook and began to write, handing it to Sora. He blinked at her in confusion, before she pointed to the notebook.

"Read it aloud?" he asked. She nodded as he did as he was told.

"She says: **It's very kind of him to allow me back into the Organization, but I humbly refuse. He is not to be trusted, and I learn from my mistakes, unlike the rest of you. Keep your cloaks, I prefer my friends over you lot, anyways. And this includes the "traitors" you speak of**." he spoke, reading her words aloud. Donald and Goofy, as well as Jack, smiled at this as he handed the notebook back to her, Luxord shaking his head.

"I will inform him of your decision. Such a shame, really. You could've had much more potential allied with us then you would with them. Ah, well…" but Jack and the others already had their weapons drawn, glaring at the man.

"Our friend's about to learn what it means to cross a pirate." But Luxord only smirked at this.

"Oh?" and with that there was a loud rumble, turning their attention to the side of the ship. The same heartless they had defeated just minutes before had emerged again, this time more ghost-like. "Sora! Donald! Goofy! Kyrie! He's yours!" Jack ordered. But the heartless swung its scythe, sending Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Jack onto the Interceptor while Kyrie slammed into the mast once more.

"_Ugh…that thing really likes slamming me into the mast…huh?" _she thought as she looked over her shoulder, only to see Luxord as he loaded the canons. Her eyes widened as dusks and gamblers stationed themselves at the canons, and he pointed.

"Fire!"

"_No! Sora, Donald, Goofy, Jack!" _she thought as she got to her feet, watching as the canons destroyed the ship. Will and Elizabeth came out as well and gasped as the ship exploded, sinking into the sea. Luxord smirked and disappeared, just as Kyrie ran over to the side of the ship. She slumped to her knees as tears blurred her vision, thinking the worse.

"_No…oh please…no…please don't let them be dead. Please…" _she thought as she covered her face with her hands. She felt hands on her shoulders and turned, to see Elizabeth staring at her sympathetically.

"Don't worry, we'll find them. They're going to be okay." She soothed, trying to calm the younger girl down. She sniffled and nodded, wiping her tears. She had to believe that they would find them alive, she had to. Elizabeth turned to Will as he stood over them, the man placing a hand to his chin as he thought.

"If they're still alive, they would probably be at the Ship Graveyard." Kyrie blinked at him in confusion as she pulled out her notebook and wrote.

**Ship Graveyard?**

"Yes. It's a graveyard for sunken ships. If anything, they could've drifted to there. We better set course and hurry, or we may be too late." the two women nodded as they go to their feet, following Will as he headed to the wheel. Kyrie looked out at the darkened sea, her fists clenched as she stared out.

"_Guys…please be safe."_

-Later-

Kyrie growled silently as she paced the deck of the ship, impatient as the ship sailed. She wanted to get to the graveyard as soon as possible and find them, but the ship was going so slow!

"_Argh! C'mon, stupid ship! Go faster!" _she thought as she paced. Suddenly Elizabeth gasped, looking at Will and Kyrie.

"Will, Kyrie! We're here!" she called. Kyrie perked up and ran over to the side of the ship as she and Elizabeth looked out at the ship graveyard. Looking around, she felt her hopes diminish when she didn't spot the four.

"_Guys…c'mon…" _she thought as she looked. Elizabeth gasped and grabbed her shoulder, pointing. Following her gaze, Kyrie gasped and smiled when she spotted four familiar figures walking towards the ship.

"Ahoy, mateys!" Elizabeth called as she and Kyrie waved, getting the attention of the four. Jack muttered something as he shook his head, but nevertheless approached the ship as the two women lowered the gangplank. Once they got on, Kyrie tackled the boys and held them tight, thankful that they were alright.

"Kyrie…t-too tight…" Sora gasped as she hugged the living daylights out of him, Donald, and Goofy. She gasped and released them, scratching the back of her head in embarrassment. Turning to Jack, she gasped at his appearance. He looked he same as the cursed pirates!

"Jack, what happened? This is horrible!" Elizabeth exclaimed as she looked Jack over.

"Ah, but who's to blame for it, eh?" he asked with a wave of his hand. Will narrowed his eyes at the man.

"Well, it certainly isn't Elizabeth's." he argued. Sora nodded.

"It's Organization XIII. They're the ones behind it all." He explained. Goofy nodded as he put a finger to his head.

"Wonder where they went."

"The hooded man took the pirates and his creatures with him into some strange hole. We saw them leave from inside the captain's statesroom." Will answered. Kyrie nodded, remembering how Luxord left right after he blew the Interceptor to smithereens. Jack turned to the man, eyebrow raised.

"Didn't occur to you to fight them, mate?" he asked. Will shook his head. "I'm no fool. I knew I was no match for them." At this, Jack nodded with a wave of his hand.

"That I believe." Will turned to Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Kyrie. "I think we'll need your help." He spoke, making the four nod in understanding.

"Got it."

"First, let's find all the medallions. Otherwise, the curse can't be broken and the creatures will remain invincible." Will added. With that everyone went to their posts, Jack taking the wheel as he steered a course to Isla de Muerta.

- A little while later-

Kyrie sighed as she landed on her feet, catching a medallion as it fell to the floor after being knocked off a Gambler who was trying to get away. She looked at the coin and tossed it, before turning to Sora and Jack. Both of them each had a medallion, and Donald and Goofy were working on getting the last one. Which proved to be more difficult.

"Hold still, will ya?" Donald shouted as he tried to land a blow on a fleeing Gambler. Goofy chuckled as he got behind the nobody, cornering it. Donald quickly raised his staff, aiming a Thundara spell at it. With one hit, the nobody was gone, and the medallion fell into Goofy's open palm. Sora walked over, and Kyrie gave him her medallion while Goofy have him his. Jack smirked and waved his hand, signaling for them to follow him back to the ship.

"_Phew…I think we got them all. At least now we can go find Luxord and put a stop to him." _she thought as she followed closely behind. Once they got onto the ship, Sora counted the medallions in his hand.

"That's four medallions! We got 'em all!" he cheered. But Jack shook his head at the boy as he waved a hand.

"But where's the chest?" Jack asked as he stared at the boy. Everyone was silent for a moment, before Will spoke up. "If we find the hooded man, we'll find it." Sora nodded.

"Prob'ly in Port Royal." At this, Elizabeth turned to him. "Why's that?"

"Organization XIII is after people's hearts. So they're gonna go where there's lots of people." he explained. Will blinked at this.

"They'll hurt the townsfolk?" Jack rolled his eyes at the man as he placed a hand on his waist.

"No, they're bringin' 'em flowers, mate. I don't know who these Organizers are, but I will say they're makin' we pirates look like proper gents." He said angrily as he walked away. Kyrie blinked, she had never seen Jack so angry. He began walking up the stairs to the helm as Will spoke up again.

"Well, Jack…then we…we'll have to help!" the man was silent as he approached the wheel, taking it with one hand.

"Then let go, and haul to run free!" at this, the group scattered, getting the ship ready to sail as Kyrie sat down, resting on the stairs as she watched them work. She wanted to help, but it seemed that she wasn't needed as they worked together to get the ship going. She turned her attention on Jack and frowned, he was really pissed.

"_I can't blame him for that, though. Jack's pride is piracy, and Luxord is dragging it through the mud. I would be mad, too." _she thought as she stared at him. With that she turned her attention to the front as she watched Isla de Muerta disappear into the distance.

-A few hours later-

"C'mon!" Sora cried as they ran along the pier, heading towards the town of Port Royal. Just as they hit the soil that led to both the town and the Rampart, the grim reaper-like heartless appeared, causing them to stop. Jack pulled out his sword and turned to them.

"Go! He's for me." Jack ordered as he ran, drawing the heartless away from the chest. Sora and Will nodded as they and the others ran to the chest, dropping the medallions into the chest. With that, the heartless reverted to its normal appearance.

"The curse- it's gone!" Donald exclaimed. But Jack looked himself over, only to see cloth and bone. "Then, what's this?"

"Aw, I understand. Jack musta been cursed by that monster, not from takin' the gold." Goofy explained. Jack sighed. "Oh, I've no worries, then."

"It's okay, Jack. We'll just have to defeat the monster, that's all." Sora explained. Out of nowhere, the monster lunged, Sora and the others jumping out of the way just as it slammed its scythe into the chest, scattering pieces of gold and returning to its ghost-like shape.

"Get the gold!" Jack ordered. Kyrie nodded as she ran in, picking up pieces of gold as the monster moved about, dodging Donald's spells. Sora followed after her as Goofy and Jack went to assist Donald with distracting the monster, each teen picking up pieces of gold and throwing them into the stone chest. Once all the pieces were in, the heartless returned to its normal appearance, making it vulnerable. With that the two rushed back in, swinging their keyblades down on the heartless as it tried, in vain, to defend itself.

But after a few minutes it swung its scythe, flinging them away and heading towards the chest once more. After repeating this a couple of times, Kyrie finally decided enough was enough and closed the chest, so the heartless' scythe couldn't penetrate the stone lid.

"_There. That'll stop it from scattering the gold again." _

"Clever. Wish we'd thought of that the first time." Jack called as they began their attack. Kyrie smiled and joined them, swinging her keyblades in a series of strokes and uppercuts. Within minutes, the heartless was down for the count, reverting Jack to his human form. The man looked at his now fleshy hand and kissed his knuckles, thankful that he was no longer cursed.

"All better." Sora said in relief. The man smirked.

"Ah, not quite, mate." looking forward, the heartless disappeared and a large heart fell into Luxord's palm, the man smirking at them. "Sora, bravo." and with that, he disappeared. All was quiet for a moment before Jack turned to them.

"Just who was that chap?"

"He's part of an Organization that's collecting hearts. First, they release Heartless into different worlds. We defeat those heartless. Then they get the hearts. We're never gonna stop 'em like this." he explained. Jack nodded.

"What's the plan, then?"

"We've gotta find their stronghold and finish them off once and for all." at this, Kyrie flinched.

"_Would he…hurt Demyx, Xigbar, and Axel? Is there any way I can convince them otherwise?" _she thought, ignoring their conversation. Suddenly Jack, Will, and Goofy began picking up the stone chest, carrying it towards the docks. She snapped out of her daze and followed after them, confused on where they were taking it.

"_Just what exactly are they going to do with the chest?"_

-The Black Pearl-

"Heave-ho!" Shouted Jack as he and Will threw the chest overboard into the water, watching it as it sunk into the darkness.

"It's certain we don't need the likes of that hooded fellow and the Heartless about. They'll ruin the market for us true pirates." Jack spoke as he turned to them. Elizabeth scowled.

"So that's why you went to Port Royal. And we thought you actually wanted to save everyone."

"A pirate always looks to profit, Miss Swann." Jack explained as he smirked, making Kyrie smile as she bit off a giggle. Sora sighed. "Too bad. You had us going there, thinking you'd turned over a new leaf."

"The question is, what's beyond the leaf? Savvy?" he said as he turned to the young woman, eyebrow raised. She nodded.

"Oh…oh, yes- a reward. And what'll it be?" she asked. He looked at Sora and Kyrie, before looking back at her.

"That lovely blade of Sora's. Or perhaps Kyrie's, since she has plenty to go around." He answered, looking at the two people in question. The two looked at each other before Sora smiled, looking back at the captain.

"Okay. Sure." With that he summoned his keyblade, Jack looking at it apprehensively.

"Hold on! That was far too easy. What's the rub?" he asked. Sora held out the keyblade and the man took it carefully, looking at it for a moment before it disappeared, right into Sora's hand. "There, you see?"

"Well, you've always got the Pearl, Jack." Sora spoke, indicating the ship. The man nodded. "That I do. But someday, I'll gather a blood-thirsty crew, and come to take that blade. Chance by then I'll have the way to wield it. And if I succeed, I'll ask you two to join me. That'd be reward enough." at this, Elizabeth nodded. Goofy turned to Donald as he began.

"Maybe someday, Jack'll be able to use the Keyblade after all." The duck raised an eyebrow at him. "Why's that?"

"A-hyuck! He and Sora are kind of alike, dontcha think?" he explained. Kyrie smiled and nodded as the two shrugged their shoulders. "Are not!" they spoke simultaneously, causing them to look at each other as the others laughed. Once the laughing had died down, the pirate turned to Kyrie.

"What say ye, lass? Think I could try to wield one of your blades?" he asked. The girl was silent for a moment before nodding, summoning both blades and holding both out to him. He looked at the blades for a moment, before grabbing Lost Memory. Like with Sora, the keyblade returned to her open palm, causing him to sigh and shrug his shoulders.

With that, the four said goodbye to their friends in Port Royal before returning to the Gummi ship, to continue their quest to find Riku and Kairi.

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><p><strong>Wow. Well, I hope this chapter was enough action for you guys, since I'm REALLY trying to limit the chapters needed for their second visits to each world. And hopefully by friday I'll have the next update!<strong>

**Xemnas: Pity. And here I thought you were too sick to keep writing.**

**Me: ...*grabs a fan and hits him with it* What are you, nuts? When you're sick you're bored out of your mind so I fill the boredom with poetry, writing, and videogames!**

**Axel: ...You really don't have a life, do you?**

**Me: *hangs head* No...'cept for college...**

**Kyrie: *sighs and shakes head before writing* **The Author thanks everyone who has reviewed so far, and especially the ones who reviewed last chapter. She actually laughed at a couple. So please, keep going with the reviews. And she doesn't mind a little constructive critscism either. As long as you're not trying to be a jerk, that is.

**Me: That's right, Kyrie! *hugs* So, until the next chapter, see ya!**


	57. Jafar's Back!

**Finally! I've gotten rid of that stupid flu! **

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters, some of the story (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 57

"Hey, Kyrie! Come look at this!" Sora called as he looked out the Gummi ship's window. Kyrie got up from her seat and walked over, curious on what the boy was staring at. Looking out, she gasped at what she saw. There was a world far off into the distance, and it looked almost like a hologram. But she recognized the world immediately.

"_The World that Never Was!" _she thought as she stared. She could clearly see their Kingdom Hearts shine over the world, and felt her heart skip a beat at the sight of it.

"Wonder what it is."

"I dunno, Sora. Chip an' Dale said they couldn't figure out what it was." Goofy answered as he looked out as well.

"Look, it's Agrabah!" Donald cried as he pointed to the screen. Turning their attention to him, they spotted the sand-covered world and smiled, going to join him. Within minutes, they had reached the world and landed the Gummi ship before walking into the city. Reaching a familiar peddler's shop, Kyrie stopped. She narrowed her eyes, something wasn't right.

"_This feeling…something dark was just here. But what?" _she quickly grabbed Sora's hand, pointing to the shop. He blinked at her in confusion.

"Huh? Something you wanna buy?" he asked. She shook her head and gave another tug, before going inside. Shrugging their shoulders, the boys followed her in, and gasped at what they saw. The place was covered in gold, making them stare in awe as Donald walked into a vase, nearly knocking it over. At the last minute, Kyrie reached out and grabbed it, at the same time steadying the duck from falling flat on his face. The peddler behind the counter turned at this, and scowled at him.

"You break it, you buy it! Oh! Hello there, friends." He spoke, realizing who he was talking to. Kyrie eyed the man suspiciously, he was hiding something. She could tell.

"Wow! You made out like a bandit!" Sora commented as he placed his hands on his hips, looking around the shop. The merchant chuckled as he shook his head.

"Please…I am but an honest merchant. What you see is merely the reward for my hard work." He explained. "Would you like to buy anything?" at this, the four shook their heads.

"No thanks. Listen, have you seen a guy in a black coat? Someone from Organization XIII?" Sora asked the little man. He jumped a little at this. "Who me? Most certainly not…" he answered, making Kyrie scowl at him.

"_He's lying…for some reason, something is telling me he's lying." _she thought, glaring at the little man. But Sora simply nodded, trusting the man's words. "Okay. We'll keep asking around, then." Kyrie stared at him in confusion as he began to walk away, before Aladdin rushed in, startling the group.

"Sora! Don't let him get away!" the young man cried as he pointed. The group turned, only to see that the peddler had disappeared. Abu jumped over and looked back at them, raising his tiny arms and shaking his head. Aladdin groaned.

"What's going on?" Sora asked as they turned to him. The man slammed a fist into his open palm as he answered.

"Can't believe it…That stupid peddler let Jafar out of the lamp!" he explained. The boys gasped in shock. "Jafar!"

"_Who's Jafar? I've heard the name before, but I don't know who he is…" _Kyrie thought, reaching out and tugging on Sora's arm. The boy turned to her as she pulled out her notebook and wrote in it.

**Sora, Aladdin, who's Jafar? You guys mentioned him the last time we were here, but you never explained to me who he was.**

"Jafar was the Sultan's advisor who got greedy and tricked me into going into the cave of wonders to find Genie's lamp. Once I did, he stole the lamp and wished himself into a Genie, and we sealed him back into the lamp afterwards." Aladdin explained. She nodded in understanding as he turned to them.

"You guys had better be careful. I'm sure Jafar wants to take over Agrabah again, but I know he's out for revenge, too." Aladdin warned. Sora scratched the back of his head as he gave a sheepish smile. "I guess he's still sore about that whole lamp thing, huh." Kyrie giggled at this, agreeing with him. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Iago as he flew over, and brushed her hair over her shoulder so that he could have a place to perch. Taking the offer, the bird landed, receiving an affectionate pat on the head as well as a few strokes on his back.

"Iago was there when Jafar was released. Okay, Iago. Spill it." Aladdin added, looking at the bird. Iago flinched under the man's gaze before flying into the air. "Hey! I told you everything I know!" he squawked. The man narrowed his eyes at him.

"This is your one and only chance, Iago. If I find out later that you've been lying or hiding things from us, we're through. I'll never speak to you again!" he warned. At this, the bird flew back to Kyrie, landing in her open arms, and sighed. "I can't take it! I know where Jafar is!"

"Where?" Goofy asked as he walked over, looking at the bird in Kyrie's arms. He looked back and forth between the group, and Kyrie could tell he was hesitant about something. "Uh, er, I mean, that is, I, um…Ack! I really shouldn't…"

"Iago!" Aladdin spoke, his face stern. Iago sighed softly. "He's in the desert ruins." He answered. Sora nodded as he pumped a fist, looking at Aladdin.

"Let's get the jump on him. Lead the way!" but before anyone could move, Kyrie was right in front of them, a hard look on her face. Before they could ask what was wrong, her notebook was in front of them.

**Now before we do anything, I just want to make something clear. You all better stop harassing Iago, or I swear I am going to hit you so hard your heads will spin. You DO NOT harass poor, defenseless birds and I won't tolerate such behavior.**

"But Kyrie, he-" but her glare silenced Sora as she wrote more.

**I don't care about the circumstances, you should have been nicer to him if you wanted to know so badly. Now promise that you'll be nicer to him.**

The group was silent before sighing.

"All right, we promise." they sighed, raising one hand as they did so. Satisfied, she allowed them to pass as she followed behind them, carrying Iago in her arms. The bird looked up at her as they ran, amazement clear on his features.

"You defended me…" he whispered, making her look down at him and smile. He gave a small smile back and climbed onto her shoulder, turning his gaze in from her to Aladdin as the group ran. But Iago's thoughts were elsewhere as he sat on the girl's shoulder, guilt welling inside him like a dam ready to burst.

"_She shouldn't have defended me. I'm…"_

-Outside of Agrabah-

The group stared at the sandstorm that was howling in the distance, none of the courageous, or in this case dumb, enough to risk going through it. Iago looked at the sandstorm happily as he looked at them. "What a disaster! We're just gonna hafta turn back."

"There's gotta be a way…" Aladdin spoke as he placed his hand against his chin. But a voice called out, making the group jump. "Aw, c'mon, kid, that's an easy one!" they looked up just as Genie swooped in, going to greet his friend as he flew to his side.

"Al, ol' buddy, ol' pal! This is what having a genie for a best friend is all about! I mean, how can you leave me on the sidelines in a time like this? Live large! Wow 'em, Al! Give 'em the old razzmatazz! What do ya say, kid?" Genie explained in his eccentric yet dramatic way. Kyrie giggled silently as she watched the two, amused by his antics. Sora smiled as he waved.

"Hey, Genie!" he greeted. The man turned to him. "Sora!" he quickly disappeared, only to reappear a few feet above them.

"Wanna see a little something I call 'Sandstorm Sweep'?" The boys and Kyrie all nodded eagerly as they stared at him. "Uh-huh!" he turned to Aladdin as the man nodded.

"Take it away, Genie!" with that he turned, raising his hands dramatically.

"Alakaza…uh…" he paused, staring at the sandstorm. He gave a small sigh. "You know? One lousy sandstorm is just too easy." He said boringly as he snapped his fingers, the storm disappearing before their very eyes. With that he disappeared, calling out to them.

"How about giving me a challenge next time, eh Al?" Kyrie smiled.

"_He's very eccentric. But I guess that's what makes him Genie." _she thought, a smile on her face. Aladdin turned to them and they nodded, following the man into the desert as they searched for the ruins.

-A little while later-

Aladdin sighed as they got to the ruins, only to find out that they couldn't even reach them! The place looked too dangerous to walk on foot, and they had no other transportation.

"Now what do we do?" Aladdin groaned as he stared down at the ruins. Hearing a whoosh sound, Kyrie turned and spotted something purple flying towards them, making her stiffen and take a few steps back. The others turned as well, recognizing the purple object.

"Nice timing, carpet!" Sora complimented as it landed, waving at them to get on. Kyrie was hesitant at first, but when she saw there was enough room, she got on as well. Iago stayed put on her shoulder, his head ducked as he looked down, ashamed. She noticed this and looked at him in concern, confused on why he looked so ashamed.

"_Is something wrong with him? Poor Iago…" _she thought as she reached up, stroking his head gently. Soon they were off, flying through the ruins as they tried searching for a place Jafar could be. Immediately Donald gasped and pointed.

"Look! It's Jafar!" he cried. The group looked ahead and saw a mirage-like figure, and since Kyrie didn't know who it was, she assumed it to be Jafar. But Aladdin shook his head.

"No, I think it's just an illusion. But just in case, let's follow it." Sora nodded in agreement.

"Right. Follow it, carpet!" and so began the chase as the mirage figure fled, with carpet right on its tail. But the figure quickly disappeared into thin air, losing them.

"_Argh, we lost him." _Kyrie thought with a huff. Spotting a large tower, they decided to check it out, since it was the only stable building in the entire ruins. When the carpet landed, the group got off and ran in, weapons drawn.

"The game's up, Jafar!" Sora called as he ran in, but there was no one around. The group looked around in confusion, where was Jafar?

"_That's strange. Iago said that he would be here." _Kyrie thought as she looked around. Aladdin and the others turned to Iago, now suspicious.

"You sure this is it?" Aladdin asked. Iago was silent, making Donald raise his eyebrow at him. "Iago?" the bird was quiet as he flew from Kyrie's shoulder to a fallen pillar, landing on it and looking away from them. After a moment, he turned to them.

"Ya gotta understand. It wasn't my idea!" he cried, bowing as he did so. "It was Jafar. He made me bring you here. You don't know him like I do! He can be VERY convincing!…He said if I didn't cooperate he was gonna-" the bird explained. Aladdin scowled and took a few steps forward.

"Where is he?" He demanded. "C'mon Al, you've gotta forgive me." Iago begged. But the man didn't listen to the parrot's words as he spoke again.

"Where's Jafar?" at this the bird flew up. "Well… um, let's see…right about now, he's probably attacking the palace." he answered. Then he flew to them, circling Aladdin.

"I had no choice! His eyes, they got all creepy and WEIRD!" he explained. But Sora scoffed, not believing his words.

"Whatever. Iago, you're supposed to be our friend. But you've been playing both sides, just to make sure you save yourself." Donald nodded in agreement.

"I knew you were still a bad guy." he exclaimed. The bird flew backwards in panic, making Kyrie gasp as she took a step forward.

"I'm SORRY!" he cried as he flew into a vase, knocking it over. Suddenly the tower began to shake, causing debris to fall everywhere as Iago flew back to them. Kyrie immediately took the bird into her arms and held him close, protecting him from the falling debris. But right on time, carpet flew in, landing right in front of them.

"Let's go!"

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><p><strong>...Strange, I really don't have anything to say for this chapter. Oh well. Please review!<strong>


	58. Fighting Jafar

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix**

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><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 58

"Let's go!" Aladdin ordered as he got onto the carpet. Sora and the others nodded as they followed after him, getting on the carpet as it got ready to take off. Once everyone was on, it took off in a flash, dodging the debris as they fell from the ceiling. Kyrie held her arm up as the other held Iago firmly against her chest, so that neither her or the bird could take any serious damage.

"_The whole place is coming down…I hope Carpet is fast enough to get us out of here in time." _she thought in worry as she looked over at Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Aladdin. Sora looked back and caught sight of her holding her arm over her head while the other cradled Iago, before he moved a little to the side.

"C'mon, you're gonna get hurt if you sit close to the edge." he urged. Donald and Goofy moved as well, so she could sit in the middle. Looking up, she nodded as she moved in, with the boys surrounding her.

"_Huh. It's annoying for them to think I'm some weak little girl, but sweet that they're actually worried that I'll get hurt." _she thought with a smile.

As this was going on, Iago looked up at the girl who was holding him, amazed and confused. _"Why is she protecting me? I don't get it. Al and the others don't want anything to do with me now, but she…" _he thought as he stared at her. The girl was a mystery, especially since she never talked or made a sound.

"Guys, get down!" Aladdin ordered as a building began to fall. The group was quick to duck as Carpet maneuvered through it, leaving them completely unscathed. When they finally left the ruins, they watched as it crumbled from behind them, glad that everyone was okay.

-Agrabah-

The group quickly got off the carpet as it landed, laying itself off the ground in exhaustion. Aladdin and Sora stood over the carpet as the man patted it.

"Get some rest, Carpet. You earned it." and with that it went limp. The two got to their feet as Kyrie joined them, Iago still perched on her shoulder.

"C'mon, let's get Jafar!" he urged. But the boys glared at him. "And who asked you?" Sora asked, his face hard. Kyrie looked at the bird sympathetically, she knew what it was like having your friends think you're the bad guy. Especially after her confession in the Land of Dragons.

"_I know just how you feel, Iago. I wish there was some way I could help, but what can I do?" _she thought as she reached up, stroking his feathers gently. With that they turned to the gates and ran through, their only focus for the moment was to reach the palace. Kyrie spotted the merchant ahead as they ran, but ran past him.

"_Besides, he's not important. What I'm worried about is what's happening to Jasmine and the others at the palace." _she thought with a huff. But Iago quickly tugged on her hair, stopping her.

"Hey, Sora and the other's are back that way!" he cried as he pointed. She turned and spotted the group as they talked to the merchant, and rolled her eyes. _"Guys, c'mon! Jasmine and the others are in danger!" _she thought with a sigh, irritation clear on her features. After a few moments, the group joined her and they ran through the palace gates, just as Jafar was gloating at a chained up Jasmine.

"Right about now…your precious Aladdin is whispering your name, with his last breath." he gloated as he released her chin. But she looked over his shoulder and smiled at them, making him turn and scowl with disgust.

"What was that you were saying, Jafar?" Aladdin asked as they drew their weapons, Kyrie pushing Iago so that he hid with Goofy behind his shield. But it was too late as Jafar looked over, glaring at them.

"You dare defy me! You useless bird!" he cried as his staff glowed, making the three cringe before he turned towards Aladdin. The staff shot off a light, making them gasp as Iago flew in. "Al!" he cried as he got hit, taking the blow in Aladdin's place.

"_Iago!" _Kyrie thought as she stared in shock. Everyone gasped as they ran in, Kyrie picking up the wounded bird and cradling him in her arms.

"Iago!" Goofy cried as he joined her. But Jafar smirked. "You'll all be joining him…VERY soon!" he exclaimed as he began to transform, purple and red smoke swirling around him as they emitted sparks. Kyrie growled and took a few steps back as his transformation finished, with him hovering over Agrabah. Buildings began to crumble as a structure fell towards them, with Sora and Aladdin right under it. But a familiar purple blur caught their eyes as Carpet flew in, saving them from being crushed by the building. The girl looked at the wounded bird in her arms, before looking up and scowling at the crimson Genie.

"_I haven't even properly met you, and you've already crossed the line. No one hurts my friends or abuses animals! Not as long as I'm around." _She thought, getting to her feet and summoning her white kingdom key. She quickly turned and nudged Goofy with her keyblade, making the dog look at her.

"Huh?" He asked. She quickly held out the bird and placed him in Goofy's arms, before turning her attention towards Jafar. Aladdin looked at Donald and Goofy for a moment, before looking at Carpet.

"Carpet, take us to the ground! There's too many people on for us to fight him." he ordered. The Carpet obeyed as it flew to the ground, dropping Donald and Goofy off before Sora looked at him.

"Aladdin, go and unchain Jasmine. We got him." Sora spoke, pointing to Kyrie and himself. Aladdin nodded and got off, running over to the chained princess as Carpet took to the skies again, this time heading straight towards Jafar. As soon as Carpet was close enough, Sora latched on to Jafar's tail, spinning him and making him dizzy as he did so. As soon as Jafar went limp, Kyrie and Sora began attacking him, using various keystrokes and uppercuts as they dealt him damage. But he quickly regained his senses, thrashing out and nearly getting the two keyblade wielders as he did so. But his thrashing damaged the buildings as bits and pieces fell off, making the citizens below panic as they scrambled to seek shelter.

"_This is gonna be tough." _Kyrie thought as Carpet flew back, avoiding the genie's attacks as it did so. But Sora and the girl kept on, spinning Jafar a few times and waiting until he became unstable before attacking him. After repeating this a few times, the genie cried out in defeat, his body emitting sparks as he did so.

"No…how can I BE defeated again, by a pack of filthy street rats?" Jafar cried out. Sora and Kyrie looked back at him from where they were seated on Carpet, and the boy smirked. "Don't mess with street rats!" he called, making the girl nod in agreement as the genie disappeared in a flash of red smoke. Once the group landed, Genie appeared behind them, a disappointed look on his face.

"You went mano a mano with Jafar, and you didn't invite me, Al?" he asked, shocked. Aladdin shrugged as he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Sorry, Genie. Things happened kinda fast." He explained. Genie sighed.

"And I had some new moves to show off, too…" he sighed, crossing his arms. But Donald called out. "But, Genie, we still need your help!" he explained. This made him perk up as Sora and Kyrie nodded.

"Who's gonna fix Agrabah?" he asked. Genie smiled and stretched, getting ready to fix the city.

"Oh yeah! One super-duper spruced-up Agrabah comin' right up! You won't even recognize the place when I'm through with it!" he exclaimed. But Aladdin held his hands up, stopping him.

"Just like it was, please." This made Genie deadpan as he looked at them.

"Really? Same old same old?" Sora and Aladdin nodded, making him sigh. "All right." And with a snap of his fingers, the town was covered in bright lights, the buildings returning to their original states as they did so. "Et voila! Next time let me put in a few swimming pools, 'kay?" he called as he flew off. Kyrie smiled as she looked around, her hands behind her back.

"_Everything's returning to normal." _she thought with a smile. But when she looked at Goofy, she frowned sadly, spotting a wounded Iago as Goofy cradled him in his arms. She quickly walked over, plucking the bird from him and holding him close as Donald walked over, probably to heal him.

"_Thank you, Iago. You brave little bird."_

-A little while later-

"I guess Agrabah's all right now." Sora spoke as the group stood in the marketplace, looking at their surroundings in satisfaction. Aladdin nodded in agreement as Jasmine joined him, clasping his hand.

"Yeah! Thanks, guys." he spoke gratefully as he turned to them. Sora smiled before looking at a now fully-healed Iago, who was currently sitting on Kyrie's shoulder as the girl fawned over him.

"Hey, you behave yourself, got it?" he ordered, looking at the bird. Iago nodded enthusiastically, grateful of getting a second chance.

"I most definitely got it! No more lookin' out for number one. I'm reformed! I wanna be a good friend like Genie, but I can't do anything to help you. What kind of a friend is that?" Iago said as he looked the group over. Sora chuckled as he shook his head.

"Oh, no- it's not like that, Iago. Friends don't have to "do" stuff. As long as you have fun hanging out together, that's all that matters." he explained. Aladdin nodded as he turned to them.

"So…what do you guys do for fun?" he asked. Donald and Goofy were in front of him in seconds, looking at him before twisting and scrunching their faces. "We do this!" Donald answered as he and Goofy made funny faces at the man. Kyrie face-palmed, shaking her head as Aladdin backed away.

"Uh… that's not quite what I meant." he spoke, slightly creeped out by their expressions. Kyrie giggled silently as Sora chuckled, holding his hands behind his head as he did so.

"Well, anyway…" Iago lowered his jaw to the side as he tried making a funny face as well, only to gasp out in pain as he flew into the air.

"Ow, my beak…" he exclaimed. Goofy and Kyrie were at his side in seconds, looking at him worriedly.

"Gawrsh, Iago. I hope ya didn't hurt yourself." Goofy said as he looked at the bird. Iago sighed. "Well…at least I can still fly." but even his flying was a bit off, Goofy following after him with his arms held out, ready to catch him is necessary. But the bipedal dog wasn't looking where he was going, as he walked towards a stand. Donald gasped.

"Look out!" he cried, but it was too late as Goofy stumbled, falling into the stand and completely destroying it. The group face-palmed as Donald sighed, before a familiar voice called out.

"Ooh! Was that my cue? Am I on? C'mon, Al, lemme build a freeway or something!" Genie cried. But Aladdin shook his head. "Everything's fine, don't panic…Genie!"

"But I can't hold it any longer!" Genie cried as he flew across the sky, covering the city with sparks of magic as they fell from the sky. Kyrie giggled silently into her hand as Genie flew this way and that, making sure that every part of the city had magic sparks falling from the sky.

"Sora! Donald! Goofy! Kyrie! You guys are too much! If you're ever in the mood for some more cosmic razzle dazzle, gimme a shout, okay?" Genie called. The group nodded enthusiastically. "You got it!" Donald called back. Aladdin smiled before turning to Sora.

"Well, you've done it again, Sora. Don't forget about us, okay?" he spoke, making the boy turn to him and nod. "I won't." he promised.

"And Sora…about that friend of yours, the one you're looking for…" Sora looked down sadly at this and the man walked over, placing his hands on the boy's shoulders. "You'll find him. Trust me." Sora nodded as Aladdin looked over at Kyrie.

"Kyrie, you too. You're gonna get your memories back soon, I know it." he spoke, making her flinch. She stared at him for a moment before smiling, nodding her head in understanding. Jasmine smiled as she joined them.

"Let is know if there's anything we can do to help, okay?" she asked. The group nodded, and with one final goodbye, they were off.

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><p><strong>...well, not gonna update for awhile. College, y'know? So please...<strong>

**REVIEW! XD **


	59. Stolen Presents

**Oh...my...gosh...**

**310 reviews...*faints***

**Axel: Hey, the author fainted again!**

**Roxas: Again?**

**Xemnas: What was it for this time?**

**Axel: *reads* Let's see, she fainted because the story has...310 reviews?**

**Everyone: WHAAAAAAAAAT?**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters, ect. (c) Square Enix**

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><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 59

Kyrie sighed as she looked out the windows of the Gummi ship. There were a million thoughts running through her mind, and she couldn't seem to chain them down. Resting her chin against her hand, Aladdin's final words echoed in her thoughts.

"_Kyrie, you too. You're gonna get your memories back soon, I know it." _

"_But…how? I've been searching all this time, trying to remember and find clues about my past, but I still don't remember anything. The dreams are the same, they're like movies that play inside my head, but they don't help me remember the events of before or after what happens." _she thought with a sigh. Then there was another thing that was confusing her. Was she in love with Axel?

Everything that Belle had told her seemed to point in that direction, but there were other things that still confused her. From looking at Hercules and Megara, Aladdin and Jasmine, and Will and Elizabeth, she could tell there was so much more to love then what Belle had told her. Then, the events of what happened the other night came to her as well. When Axel…tried to kiss her. Looking down at the charm bracelet around her wrist, the one he had given her, she unclasped it and held it gently in her palm, before clutching it tightly and holding it over her heart.

"_I wish…that he had kissed me the other night." _she thought with a sigh. She looked at the bracelet in her palm and her eyes softened, her lips forming a small smile as she did so.

"_Axel…"_

-Later-

"Sora, Goofy, Kyrie! We're here!" Donald called, making the three get to their feet and walk over to see what world they were at next. Sora and Kyrie smiled when they looked at the world.

"It's Halloween town!" he exclaimed, a smile on his face as he stared at the screen. Kyrie nodded as she pulled out her notebook and wrote a sentence before handing it to Donald.

**Take us down, Donald!**

The duck smiled.

"You got it!"

-Halloween Town, Hinterlands-

The group looked around as they stepped into the Hinterlands, the gloomy and dark scenery the same as always, except, something was different. They blinked in confusion as presents littered the ground, standing out from the gloom with their brightly colored wrappings and bows.

"_Huh? Presents? How did they-" _Kyrie thought as she took a step forward, picking up a present and looking at it in confusion. Donald walked to her side and stared at it, before looking around.

"Huh?" he gasped, confusion clear on his now mummified features. But the snapping of a twig caught their attention and they looked straight ahead, to see none other than Jack Skellington picking up the presents as he approached them, still in his Santa suit no less. The skeleton looked up from where he was picking up a present and smiled, waving the present that was still in his hand as he walked over.

"Perfect timing, gentlemen and Kyrie! Lend me a hand, won't you?" he called as he approached. "These presents must belong to Sandy Claws. So I thought I'd better return them." He explained as he stopped in front of them, his bony arms filled with the brightly wrapped goodies. Kyrie nodded and started picking some up, while Sora crossed his arms, staring at the skeleton suspiciously.

"You just happened to find them?" he asked, skeptical. Jack smiled as he tapped the boy on the nose. Kyrie smiled at this and resisted the urge to giggle at the bone man's expression. It looked almost comical, something out of the ordinary when it came to skeletons.

"Of course, Sora. I'm finished with Christmas fantasies. You know that." He answered as he walked past them to pick up more presents. But Sora still didn't believe the bony man as he eyed his red suit.

"But…You thought you'd hold onto the suit?" he questioned. At this, Jack turned around. "What, this? It's just a costume. And Sally worked so very hard making it! Come on. We've got work to do!" and with that, he continued on. Kyrie, who had already started gathering the presents, followed after him; her arms filled with presents. Sora, Donald, and Goofy sighed before helping to gather the presents. Once the presents were all picked up, and their arms were filled, they began their trek to Santa's.

-Santa's House-

The group was silent as they walked into Santa's house, finding said man pacing back and forth in his living room as they walked in. Hearing them, he turned and gasped.

"Oh!" he gasped as Sora, Kyrie, Jack, Donald, and Goofy placed the presents on the table.

"Wherever did you find these?"

"In Halloween Town. You'll be needing them for Christmas, right, Sandy?" Jack explained as the man snatched a present out of his hands. Santa nodded as he looked at the presents on the table, before turning to them.

"Of course. But these are just a few of the Christmas presents that were stolen." He explained. The group jumped at this. "Stolen?" Sora exclaimed, shocked at the news. All eyes went to Jack, who in turn looked at them in confusion before scratching his head.

"Oh, Sandy…You don't think it was ME?" he exclaimed, shocked. Santa gave a huff as he wagged a finger at the taller man. "Still wearing the outfit, I see."

"I just thought I'd dress for the occasion. But if you don't believe me, then we'll just have to find out who really did it!" Jack exclaimed. The Sora, Donald, and Goofy turned to him in surprise while Kyrie sighed.

"_I knew we were going to get dragged into this, one way or the other." _she thought with a sigh. Santa pondered this for a moment, before nodding.

"Very well, I'll leave it to you." Jack smiled at this and clenched a fist, before looking at his companions.

"All right, Sora, Donald, Goofy, Kyrie! We're off!" he declared as he began walking back towards the front door. Sora, Donald, and Goofy slumped while Kyrie followed after him. But a loud crash sounded inside the factory and the group instantly changed direction, running into the factory. Once they got inside, they spotted Lock, Shock, and Barrel as they looked through a pile of toys.

"Hey!" Donald exclaimed. The trio jumped and turned to them, surprised.

"So YOU three took them!" Sora accused as he pointed a finger at them. Shock turned and pouted, stomping her foot as she did so. "Took what?"

"You stole the presents, didn't you!" Jack exclaimed as he placed his hands on his hips. The three looked at each other and Lock shrugged before turning to them.

"It wasn't us!" he exclaimed.

"Buuuut…" Barrel drawled.

"It really sounds like fun!" Shock finished, taking off her mask and smiling mischievously at them. She quickly slapped her mask back into place and turned to her companions. "Run for it!"

"_Oh great. No we've gotta catch them. This is gonna be so much fun…" _Kyrie thought with a roll of her eyes as she summoned her keyblades and ran in. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Jack followed close behind her, each grabbing a partner and going after either Lock, Shock, or Barrel.

Sora and Jack tag teamed to take on Lock, while Donald and Goofy partnered up to take on Barrel. Shock, the only girl in the group, was left to Kyrie. The two girls stared off for a moment before Shock took off, Kyrie right behind her as she chased the child.

"Nyah nyah!" Shock called to Kyrie, making the girl growl as she picked up her speed, getting in front of the child in seconds. Shock ran into Kyrie, landing on her back before the girl grabbed her. Kyrie spotted a box nearby and threw the child into it, closing the lid as Shock struggled. Looking at the others, she realized that the boys had done a similar thing with Lock and Barrel. Once the three were captured, the pulled them back out and placed them on the floor.

"Where'd you put the presents?" Sora demanded as he placed his hands on his hips.

"We told you! We don't have 'em!" Shock exclaimed. Donald stomped his foot impatiently as he crossed his arms, glaring at them.

"Then why are you in here?" he demanded.

"We're looking for parts for the experiment." Lock explained. Jack cocked his head in confusion. "Experiment?"

"Dr. Finkelstein's making us a friend!" he explained. Kyrie was silent as she stared at the three, they didn't seem like they were lying…

"_And I remember them helping out Dr. Finkelstein the last time we were here. They were carrying in a robotic leg…" _she thought, placing a hand against her chin. _"But if they didn't steal the presents, who did? I doubt Jack would've done it, especially since he isn't the type to steal anything. Except for a holiday…"_

"Kyrie! C'mon, we're leaving you behind!" Sora called, startling her. She looked around and realized that everyone was gone, before turning and following after the boys. Once they got in to Santa's living room, the large man looked up at them from where he was sitting.

"So, were those pranksters responsible for taking the gifts?" he asked as he stared at them. Jack sighed and shook his head.

"It doesn't look like it…" he answered. There was a pause before Sora spoke up. "Then that means…" but a sound from behind her made Kyrie gasp as she turned, spotting Sally as she ran in. Jack turned as well and smiled.

"Sally!" he exclaimed happily, cutting Sora off. The doll-woman stopped and gasped in relief. "Oh, thank goodness! You're all here."

"Is something wrong?" Sora asked. She nodded.

"The Heartless are back in the town square. I thought you should know." She explained. Sora and Kyrie looked at each other and nodded. "That's our cue!"

"Back to Halloween Town!" Donald proclaimed as he pointed towards the front door. Before anyone could move, Jack stopped them.

"But wait! What about finding the gift-napper?" he exclaimed. Sally perked up at this and turned to the bone man.

"Actually…The Heartless were playing with some presents when I saw them…" she explained uneasily.

"Aha! We have our culprits!" Jack exclaimed as he pointed. Kyrie smiled at his enthusiasm before the group ran out, leaving Sally and Santa behind as they made their way to Halloween Town. But once they got to the Hinterlands, Kyrie spotted some movement from the corner of her eye and stopped. She stared into the dark trees, watching them closely for any more signs of movement. After a moment, something moved, a large silhouette moving among the dark trees. Before she could move towards it, Sora called out to her.

"Kyrie, c'mon! Halloween town's this way!" he called. She stopped and nodded, following after them and ignoring the silhouette for now.

"_But…what was that thing? Is it…maybe…connected to the heartless?"_

-Halloween town Square-

"Jack, where are you? I'm only an elected official, I can't handle this by myself!" the mayor howled as he looked around at the heartless. Sora and the others ran into the square, just as the heartless started playing with the presents.

"Sally was right. We've got to get the presents!" Sora exclaimed. The group nodded as they rushed in, taking on the heartless and gathering the presents as they did so. But Jack, Sora, and Donald got reckless with the gifts, and in the end Goofy and Kyrie had to gather them so that they wouldn't get damaged by the onslaught of attacks from both sides.

When the heartless were finally gone, Jack walked over to pick up the last present. Well…the box anyways since the doll that was inside was laying on the ground, with him stepping on it as he picked up the gift.

"What a shame! It looks like it was such a nice present." Jack spoke, looking at the box. Sora and Kyrie stared at the doll that was laying under his feet, and Sora called out to him.

"Uh, Jack-"

"Oh help! Someone help me! My latest experiment is gone! It's been stolen!"

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><p><strong>I still can't believe this story has 310 reviews...I must be dreaming.<strong>

**Sora: *pinches my arm* **

**Me: Ow! Sora!**

**Sora: Sorry, but I had to wake you up.**

**Me: I was being sarcastic!**

**Riku: *rolls eyes before turning to the audience* You guys know the drill. Review, and would someone please take this girl down a notch? Leave a contrsuctive criticism review!**

**Kairi: Riku, that's mean!  
><strong>


	60. The Thief!

**Hey guys, I'm finally back! Just got done reading the new BLEACH chapter and... it sucked. Hopefully, you guys don't feel the same way when you read THIS chapter.**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts characters, ect. (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 60

"Oh help! Someone help me! My latest experiment is gone! It's been stolen!" Dr. Finkelstein called out as he wheeled out of his lab, holding his hand against his head as he did so. The group immediately turned their attention to the distressed doctor as they followed him inside his house for a more detailed explanation. Once they were inside, he began his tale.

"I was just sitting here brainstorming, when all of a sudden I was attacked! I collapsed! And when I awoke, my experiment was gone!" he explained angrily, slamming his fist into his chair as he glared at them. Jack tapped his skull for a moment, before he began speaking.

"Don't worry, Doctor…we know who took it." He assured the creature. At this, the doctor leaned forward and clenched his fist. "Who?" he demanded.

"The Heartless." Sora answered, with Donald nodding in agreement. But the doctor scoffed.

"What, those wretched things? Preposterous! This was nothing like a Heartless." He scoffed. Kyrie was silent as she thought back to the silhouette in the woods, could that have been the thief?

"Not the Heartless, huh…" the boy spoke, crossing his arms as he thought about any other suspects.

"Who else could it be?" Donald asked, looking at the group. After a few moments, Jack gasped, holding up a bony finger.

"Say, I have an idea. The thief must like Christmas presents. So…We place irresistible gifts about to draw him into a trap." He exclaimed. The group looked at him as well as the doctor, their expressions unreadable as they stared at him.

"And this miscreant is the same one who stole my experiment?" the doctor asked, unbelieving. Jack grinned and nodded.

"That's right."

"How will we know for sure?" Sora asked as he looked up at the pumpkin king. Jack's smile seemed to grow as he continued explaining his plan.

"Well, now, that's easy! We'll scare a confession right out of him!" he exclaimed. The group deadpanned at his plan while Goofy placed a hand on his chin, muttering. "Gawrsh…"

"What do you say we go with Jack's plan…just for now?" Sora spoke as he leaned in, Goofy, Donald, and Kyrie forming a small huddle as they did so. Donald, Goofy, and Kyrie nodded, making the boy smile as he turned to Jack.

"Let's go to Sandy's house posthaste! We've got to make some Christmas presents, quickly!" Jack ordered, pointing to the door. The group nodded and was off in a flash, ready to put a stop to the thief once and for all.

-Santa's House-

"Have you found the presents yet?" Santa asked as the group walked in. Jack held up a hand.

"Almost, Mr. Claws!" he assured him. Sora nodded in agreement.

"We're going to reel in the thief with Christmas presents as bait." Sora explained. At this, Jack spoke up. "Would you mind if we used your factory to create a few presents?" Jack asked. Santa paused for a moment, his expression reluctant.

"Presents as bait? Goodness…I don't like the sound of that." he answered. Jack looked down sadly and scratched his cheek, before Santa sighed. "Just this once, I suppose. It's for a good cause…All right, use the second floor. And put some heart into it." Kyrie smiled at this an nodded as she and the others went into the factory.

"_This is great! We get to make Christmas presents just like the elves!" _she thought happily. But when she remembered exactly WHY they were making the presents, she frowned. _"But it sucks that we have to use them as bait to draw out the thief. Oh well…just like Santa said, it's for a good cause." _she thought with a sigh. Following after the group, they got to the second floor and were met by a couple of elves, who were there to supervise them and to help them make the presents.

With their help, the decoy presents were quickly made, using the most appealing bows and wrapping paper as possible so the thief wouldn't be able to resist them. Once they were done, the group held up the presents.

"All done!" Donald exclaimed as he, Sora, Kyrie, and Goofy held up the presents in joy. But Jack wagged his finger at them.

"Not quite." Goofy and Kyrie looked up at him in confusion. "There's more?" he asked. Kyrie nodded.

"_Is there? I thought we were just going to make presents." _Kyrie thought as she stared at the skeleton man.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of the rest." Jack assured them. With that, he ushered them on into Santa's house before retreating back into the workshop, to take care of whatever else was needed for the plan. Santa looked up from a list he was reading as he stared at them. "Did you finish making the presents?"

"Yup, just waiting for Jack." Sora answered. Goofy was quiet for a moment before he scratched his head.

"So, uh, where do you think we oughta leave them?" he asked, looking at the group. They shrugged their shoulders in reply before Santa answered.

"Oh, I know a good spot. Whenever you're ready just say the word." He answered. The group nodded before a voice spoke, startling them.

"I'm back." They turned to see Jack as he walked in, a large grin on his face. Santa nodded as he stood up before looking at them. "Now then, are you all set?" Sora nodded.

"Yes. Let's go!"

-Christmas Town-

The group was silent as Santa unlocked a gate that apparently led to a plaza, before he looked over his shoulder at them. "This plaza should work well for your plan. Now, Jack…what IS your plan?"

"I've got it all figured out." Jack grinned. This made the man stare at him in disbelief.

"You do…"

"Of course! And I also have a wonderful idea. If we catch the thief for you, I would be honored to deliver the…" at this, Sora quickly covered his mouth, cutting him off.

"And on that note, we'll be going." With that, the group began to pull the bony man along as he protested.

"What are you doing? Let me go!" he protested. But after a few moments, he gave up and sighed as Sora and Kyrie patted his shoulders. They quickly walked into the plaza and set up the decoy presents before Jack pulled out an enormous box, picking up the four and throwing them inside before getting inside himself and closing the lid. Sora, Donald, and Goofy began to protest before Jack explained the plan to them, calming them down and keeping them from jumping out of the box. But Kyrie stiffened and sat very still, her eyes blinking as she tried to see through the darkness. But she couldn't.

"_It's so dark…" _she thought as she backed up, her back hitting the box as she did so. She hated the dark with every fiber of her being, and didn't like it that she had to sit and wait in this dark, cramped space. Donald growled as someone kicked him. "Stop kicking!" he cried, directing it at Goofy. But Goofy shook his head.

"It's not me, Donald."

"Patience, friends." Jack ordered calmly. But Sora quickly shushed them, keeping them quiet for a few moments. That is…until someone kicked Donald again.

"I said cut it out!"

"Gawrsh, was that you?"

"How come we have to be the bait?"

"Good plan, eh?"

"_No, not good plan! Horrible plan is more like it!" _Kyrie thought as she shuffled, bumping into Donald as she did so. "Ouch!" he exclaimed. But the sudden sounds of heavy footsteps hushed him as the group prepared to jump out and scare the thief. After a few seconds, the footsteps inched closer and Jack gave the signal.

"Gotcha!" Sora exclaimed as they jumped out, only to gape at what they saw. A large robotic-like creature was staring at them, its teeth gnashing angrily at them. "Huh?" Jack asked as they stared. After a moment, he came to a realization.

"Dr. Finkelstein's experiment did it!" Jack exclaimed. With that the experiment roared, lashing out and knocking over the presents as it made its way towards them. The group quickly got out of the box and surrounded the monster, Sora and Kyrie summoning their keyblades while Donald and Goofy summoned their weapons.

"_This isn't gonna be easy." _Kyrie thought as she stared at the creature. With that, the group rushed in, beginning their assault on the experiment. But Kyrie's suspicions were confirmed as it fought back, not planning to go down easily. With just the flick of its arm, it sent Donald and Goofy flying back into the pile of boxes, before turning its attention to Sora, Kyrie, and Jack. The girl gulped as it swung its fist, summoning her shield just as the fist made contact. It reeled back, howling in pain, before Jack and Sora rushed in.

"Kyrie, help Donald and Goofy!" Sora cried as he and Jack fought the experiment. The girl nodded as she ran towards the pile of boxes, sifting through them until she uncovered the two. Donald popped out of the pile like a jack-in-the-box while Goofy was a bit slower, obviously having taken more damage than the duck. With that the three rushed back into the fight to help Sora, who was being pinned to the snow-covered ground by one of its hands.

"_Sora! Hang on!" _Kyrie thought as she rushed in, swinging her keyblades like a tornado as she severed the robotic arm, leaving it on the ground as Sora scrambled out from under it. The creature roared in agony as the arm twitched, but Jack quickly threw a blizzard spell at it, freezing some of the body. After a while of this, the creature finally fell, its life force disappearing in a sea of darkness while the body remained. The group panted for a few moments, exhausted, before Jack smiled.

"We did it! The mystery is solved!" he exclaimed. Immediately they heard the sound of bells over their heads and looked up, to see Santa steering his sleigh into the plaza with his reindeer taking the lead. Once the sleigh landed, he got off and approached.

"Did you catch the thief?" he asked. Jack nodded and smiled broadly. "Naturally!"

"I just can't figure it out…" Sora started as he and the others looked at the remains of the experiment. "Why would the doctor's experiment go around stealing Christmas presents?" he spoke. Kyrie nodded.

"_That's what I'm trying to figure out, too. Why would it steal Christmas presents? Was it after something, or did it have something more foul planned?" _she thought as she walked over, taking a closer look at the experiment. Santa blinked at them.

"His experiment?" he asked. Jack nodded. "The thief! It was a moving puppet made by Dr. Finkelstein." Jack explained. Santa nodded as he walked toward the remains, joining Kyrie as the two looked at it closely.

"Hm…the doctor's made a moving puppet? I see…he is always tinkering with things." he mused. After a moment, he turned to Jack. "Now listen, Jack. I'd like to thank you, and while delivering presents is something only I can do, I can give you an idea of what it's like." Santa explained. The look on Jack's face was of pure joy as he stared at the smaller man in awe.

"Sandy Claws!" he exclaimed as he ran towards the sleigh, jumping in it instantly as he looked at the reins and such. Santa turned to the remains again. "Yes, all that poor puppet wanted was a heart." he spoke before turning his attention to the sleigh. In moments, Jack and Santa were off. The group watched them go before Kyrie grabbed Sora's hand and began tugging on it, making him look at her in confusion.

"Huh? What's up, Kyrie?" he asked. She quickly pulled out her notebook and wrote something down before handing it to them.

**Let's go back to Halloween town. We need to ask Dr. Finkelstein about the puppet and tell him that we found out that it was the thief. **

Sora nodded as he handed the notebook back to her.

"Okay. Let's go."

-Halloween Town-

"Interesting! So the puppet wasn't stolen after all! It ran away on its own! In other words, my experiment was an overwhelming success!" the doctor exclaimed. When the group got back to Halloween town, they found the doctor in front of his house and approached him, then explaining the story of how it was his experiment who was stealing the Christmas presents. Kyrie rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips as Sora continued.

"Santa Claus thinks maybe it left because it was trying to find a heart." He added. The group nodded in agreement as the Doctor pondered this.

"That's quite possible. Unlike my Sally, it wasn't equipped with a heart." He spoke, agreeing with the statement. With that, he turned and rolled his chair back to his house, leaving the group to wonder why it was stealing the presents.

"But if it wanted a heart, why was it going around stealing all those Christmas presents?" Sora asked as Donald, Goofy, and Kyrie turned to him. Suddenly a voice spoke up, turning their attention to Sally as she approached them.

"Maybe because…presents are a way to give your heart to someone special." She suggested, making Sora place his hand against his chin in thought. "Hmm…when you put it that way, I feel sort of bad for it."

"_Yeah. It was just like a nobody, in a sense. All the poor thing wanted was a heart…just like Axel, Demyx, and Xigbar." _Kyrie thought sadly. Suddenly the sound of bells echoed throughout the town, it's citizens looking at the sky as they tried to discern what it was. But almost instantly, Jack flew down, landing on the cobblestones gracefully as he looked up towards the sky.

"Happy Halloween!" Santa called as he flew off, snow beginning to fall from the sky. "What a nice present." Sally said softly, smiling as the snow fell into her hair. But Jack looked around in confusion, not understanding her words.

"I don't understand. There's no box! No ribbon tied in a bow!" he exclaimed. Sora smiled and shook his head. "Jack, it's not about the box or the ribbons. It's about what's inside the box!" But Sally shook her head.

"No, Sora. What really counts- what's really special- is the act of giving the gift. To wish deep in your heart to make someone else happy." She explained. Kyrie was silent before nodding, agreeing with the girl.

"_Yeah…Sally's right. Christmas is about joy and giving, not receiving." _Kyrie thought as she stared at the sky, silently giggling when the snowflakes disappeared into her hair, blending in with the whiteness of her locks. "Right…of course! Thank you, Sally, you're absolutely right. Wait! What's this? I feel so strange …so very happy!" Jack spoke as he raised his arms to the sky.

"Jack, that must be Sally's present!" Goofy exclaimed, making the skeleton blink at him in confusion. "Really? This wonderful feeling?" he asked. He quickly walked over and took the girl's hands into his own, looking at her with a mix of both joy and guilt.

"Oh, Sally! You've given me the nicest present in the world! And I've nothing to give you in return. What would you like? Just name it. Absolutely anything." He spoke tenderly, holding her hands in his as he gazed at her lovingly. The woman smiled as she placed her hands on top of his, returning his loving gaze.

"The nicest present I could ever ask for, Jack, is just to be with you." She answered. Kyrie smiled softly as they guys looked at each other embarrassingly, Donald covering his eyes and Sora and Goofy looked away. Jack grinned at her.

"You don't even have to ask for that." He chuckled as he pulled her into his arms, picking her up and jumping towards the square before setting her down and taking her hands in his. With that they began to dance, a waltz similar to what Belle and the Beast danced. The four watched the two dance for a few minutes, Kyrie sighing in contentment as she watched.

"Maybe I never gave her a real present after all." Sora spoke suddenly, making the group turn their attention to him. Donald and Kyrie blinked at him. "Who?"

"Aw, I bet Kairi would like most anything you gave her." Goofy assured him as he placed his hands on the boy's shoulders. Sora smiled at him.

"I know. That's what made it so hard to decide." He answered. Donald smiled as he placed his hand against his chest. "It's not the gift; it's what's in your heart!"

"My heart…"

"You bet, Kairi's like Sally!" Donald exclaimed. This made Sora and Kyrie blink at him in confusion. "How?"

"Well, as long as she can be with you, what else does she need?" Goofy explained. Sora was silent as he looked at Jack and Sally, a small smile on his face as he stared. Kyrie looked as well, and remembered the night at Beast's Castle, when she and Axel danced in the ballroom. She sighed softly as she looked at her wrist, the charm bracelet he gave her still there. She felt an ache deep inside her chest and placed a hand over her heart, looking back up as she did so.

"_Axel…you've given me so much, yet I don't know what to give you in return. I…" _she gulped as she felt the tears careen down her cheeks, a sudden realization hitting her. _"I care about you more than anything else in the world. As long as you were with me, I never needed anyone else. Axel…I..." _

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><p><strong>*ducks under the table to avoid the fan freakout at the last part* Okay, I know you guys are probably like, "OMG! She realizes she cares about Axel! Squeee!" or something to that effect. Also, if no one picked up on it, the shadowy figure that appeared in the woods last chapter WAS the experiment.<strong>

**Anyways, enjoy the chapter!**


	61. Feeling's Mutual

**Hey, guys! Here's another installment of "Bonded Souls"!. ...I WAS going to have this up earlier today, but FF wouldn't let me into my account. DUNNO why...**

**oh well. Anyways, here it is!**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts (c) Square Enix**

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><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 61

Axel growled as he threw his chakrams, taking out another group of heartless as they came at him. Catching them in his hand, he continued his onslaught on a large group of heartless in Hollow Bastion. Demyx watched on from a few feet away, sighing as he watched Axel take out his frustration on the heartless.

"_I'm surprised Axel's as pissed as he is. Since we can't feel emotions and whatnot." _Demyx thought as Axel finished off the horde, leaving no heartless left standing. He stood there, panting, for a few minutes before giving a growl.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!" he growled, throwing his chakrams and lodging them into a large crystal-like formation that was a few feet away. Demyx jumped at this, and decided now to intervene.

"Axel, calm down, okay? Look, it's not as bad as it looks!" he cried as he approached the pyro. But Axel quickly shook his head, sweat dripping down from his brow in exhaustion.

"Demyx, you didn't see the expression on her face, the look in her eyes. She looked hurt and confused, I blew it! I friggin' blew it! Got it memorized?" he growled as he glared at the man. Demyx quickly held up his arms in surrender as he looked at him.

"W-well y-you didn't even ask her to be your girlfriend! All you did was try to kiss her, so of course she would be confused!" he stammered. All was quiet for a few moments before he sighed, slumping to the ground and leaning his forehead against his hand.

"It doesn't matter now. I can't see her, not after that. It'll only make things- …harder." he whispered softly. Demyx frowned at this, before placing his hand on the man's shoulder.

"But Ax, what about Kyrie? She's always happy to see you- you'd be hurting her feelings!" he exclaimed. But Axel shook his head.

"Even if it does, I can't." he spoke, his voice soft. But Demyx wasn't about to give up.

"Look, just try again. And I promise, this time I won't interrupt! All ya have to do is get her alone and talk with her. Tell her about everything and about how much you care about her. Then, you just ask! `Kyrie, will you please be my girlfriend?`, that's all!" he explained. Axel was quiet for a few moments, before sighing.

"I guess…" Demyx sighed softly and got to his feet, he hated to see the man acting this way. So far, only Roxas and himself were the most emotional-acting of the organization members. Now Axel was beginning to act the same way, and it, in a sense, hurt him to see the pyro suffering. He looked at the blue sky, his mind lost in thought.

"_I know she loves you, Ax. You can't give up."_

-Meanwhile, Kyrie-

Kyrie sighed softly as she looked out the Gummi ship windows, her mind lost in thought. After bidding Jack and Sally farewell, the group got on the ship to head to the next world, the Pride Lands. But before that, Sora and the others saw her crying and started to pester her with questions, most of which she wouldn't answer. After awhile, they finally left her alone, and haven't said a thing to her since. She sighed again as she rested her chin against her hand, one name entering her mind at that moment.

"_Axel…" _she thought as she gazed out the window, her mind in a whirl. Everything was jumbled up inside, but she knew this for certain. She cared about Axel, she truly and deeply cared about him. She cared about him more than a friend, and wanted to be with him. But…she knew he could never feel the same way. After all, he was a Nobody, a person who didn't have a heart to feel with.

"_But…if I could, I would give him my heart. I would do anything to get him a heart, anything."_

"**Anything? Your wish may come sooner than expected." **a voice spoke, making her gasp as she looked around the cockpit. But no one had spoken, since Sora and Goofy were off in dreamland and Donald was manning the controls once again.

"_Who was that? Wait…that voice, it sounds familiar…"_

"**We met twice, once in the Underworld and once at Agrabah." **the voice spoke. It was disembodied, but she could tell it was feminine. Then, she remembered.

"_Oh…it's you…"_

"**Yes, it is I. Kyrie, because of what you are, your feelings for the nobody may be able to gift him with a heart of his own. For if he should get his original heart back, he would no longer be the Axel that you knew. But for Axel to get a heart of his own, you must be willing to do something in exchange."**

"_But what is that `something`? What do I have to do? And what are you talking about when you say 'what you are', is there something-" _her thoughts asked. But the female voice chuckled softly.

"**You will learn in time. For the moment this is needed is still far off, but so very near. Once it comes, you'll know what to do." **and with that, it fell silent. She was silent for a few moments before nodding in understanding. With that she turned her attention back to the window, allowing her eyes to close and for sleep to consume her.

-Later-

"_Ah…it feels kinda strange to have a tail and be furry again, but I can't complain." _Kyrie thought as she stretched her four limbs, feeling the ground beneath the pads of her feet and the dry wind whipping at her white fur.

"_Then again, I wish I had my notebook. It's gonna be hard when it comes to communicating with them." _she continued, deadpanning. Sora looked back at her and Donald and Goofy approached them, looking around at the scenery. It hadn't changed since the last time they were here, and this got her worried.

"It doesn't look like things have changed much." Sora mumbled in concern, Donald and Goofy nodding in agreement. With that they began walking through the savannah, heading to Pride Rock. But three blurs in the distance made them stop, watching as the blurs cleared. It was Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed as they ran at them, before slowing down to a trot.

"Oh, it's you guys. Man, we were hoping you were a meal." Shenzi complained, making Kyrie hiss as she arched her back. But Sora seemed to take a more optimistic approached to the comment.

"Hiya!" he greeted, waving his paw. But Banzai merely rolled his eyes at him.

"Don't gimme any of that 'hiya' stuff! Thanks to you clowns, we're back to scavenging scraps for a living." He barked. Ed started the laugh at this, causing the group to roll their eyes at them. With that, Shenzi turned and began to walk away.

"C'mon, it's not that bad. I enjoyed that week-dead elephant we had yesterday." She muttered. Sora ignored her comment as he looked at Banzai.

"Hey how's Simba?" at this, the female hyena stopped, giving a laugh as she turned to them. The group blinked at her in confusion before Banzai chuckled maliciously. "We gotta laugh every time we hear that dude's name." he laughed. Shenzi shuddered.

"Ooh. Say it again!"

"Simba!"

"One more time!"

"Simba!" Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Kyrie deadpanned as the three had their little fun. "Simba!" at this, the three began roaring with laughter, before Kyrie and Sora hissed.

"That's enough!" Sora ordered. The three stopped immediately, before they began to walk off.

"Go on then, see for yourself. Simba is one wishy-washy king." The female hyena taunted as she and her companions walked off. The group turned and looked at each other in worry.

"Gawrsh, whaddaya think coulda happened?" Goofy asked. Kyrie shrugged and looked towards Pride Rock, something was amiss, she could feel it. _"There's something dark lurking in the Pride Lands. But this dark scent…it's familiar…" _she thought as she looked around.

"Well, let's go find Simba and see." Sora spoke as he looked towards Pride Rock. The group nodded in agreement and set off, Donald flying overhead as Sora, Kyrie, and Goofy ran on the terrain. But once they got to Pride Rock, a dark shadow appeared, making them stop and gasp.

"Scar!" Sora exclaimed, Kyrie hissing in agreement. Indeed it was the lion as he stared at them mockingly, his body enshrouded with darkness. Sora ran forward instantly, but the second he leaped at the lion, he disappeared. "Huh?"

"A ghost?" Donald asked as he flew down, landing on Goofy's shell. Goofy nodded, before looking around in worry. "We better tell Simba about this. Wonder if he's up there…" he suggested, looking up at the massive rock formation. Kyrie nodded and began walking, with Sora running to catch up to her so that they walked side-by-side. Only problem, was that Sora was walking on her right side, making her uneasy as her hackles raised and her tail twitched anxiously. Sora looked at her.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked. Kyrie pointed to her right eye using her paw, making him gasp as he remembered the last time he had been in her somewhat blind spot. "Oh! Sorry!" he exclaimed, jumping over so that he now walked on her left. She smiled and shook her head before playfully nudging him, as an act of forgiveness. Sora smiled in return but stopped when he spotted a lioness approaching them.

"Have you come to see Simba?" she asked. He nodded. "We saw Scar's ghost!" he exclaimed, the others nodding as well. This made the lioness frown in worry, shaking her head.

"An omen like that could only be foretelling the end of our pride. Yet…King Simba won't do a thing. I guess just being the son of the great King Mufasa doesn't necessarily mean he's ready to rule the kingdom himself." She spoke. Kyrie growled in response, arching her back a little. But Sora quickly calmed her, before looking at the lioness.

"Trust me, Simba will think of something." He assured her. But the lioness didn't believe him.

"The time for thinking is past. We need him to take action…as his father would have done. He ruled with courage and pride. I remember it like it was yesterday…The mighty Mufasa…"

"Simba'll do all that, too. You'll see!" he protested. After a moment, the lioness sighed and turned, walking away. "I'm not so sure."

"_Simba will save the Pride Lands, you'll see!" _Kyrie thought with a huff, angry that his own servants were doubting the young king. With that they turned and headed into the lion's den, only to find Simba in a state of depression as he lay listlessly on a rock, his head turned away. His ears perked at the sounds of their footsteps and he turned, giving a small, sad smile.

"You came back…" he murmured, making the group stop and look at him in worry.

"Are you okay?" Donald asked softly, concerned for the king's health.

"You don't look so good." Goofy added, making Kyrie nod in agreement.

"Hey, Simba. Why don't we team up and do something about that Scar ghost? Seems like everybody's worried about it. So, now's your big chance to show 'em what you're really made of!" Sora suggested. But the lion stood up, growling angrily as he glared at the group.

"That doesn't concern you!" he roared, making the group jump in alarm. He quickly realized his mistake and bowed his head sadly. "Sorry…"

"It's okay." Sora answered hesitantly. The young king sighed as he raised his head, staring at them with a lost look in his eyes.

"I just wish I knew what my father would do."

"But he's not here, Simba. It's all up to you now. And that means the important thing is what you're gonna do being the king. Not what your father woulda done." Goofy explained. Simba turned away, pausing for a moment before asking.

"So you're saying…it's all up to me…"

"_Yes! You can do it, Simba. We believe in you." _Kyrie thought as she looked at the lion. Sora nodded. "See, there ya go!"

"Exactly!" the young lion and leopard jumped and turned, to see Timon and Pumba as they approached.

"We know your dad was a great king, and all. But now it's you turn. Remember what I taught ya. 'You gotta put the past behind you.' It's time to go out there and show everybody things are gonna be just fine!" Timon explained, trying to give the lion some much needed encouragement.

"Yeah, you can do it!"

"You gotta live for today!"

"And find your own path!"

"Live for today…And find my own path…not my father's…" Simba murmured, making the others grin happily. "That's it!" Sora exclaimed.

"I'm glad to hear you say that, Simba." The group turned and watched as Nala walked in, Donald smiling at the lioness. "Nala!" he cried. She smiled at them and took her place by Simba's side as she stared at them.

"Promise me you'll help Simba any way you can." She said softly. Kyrie nodded as Timon added, "As long as Sora handles the dangerous parts!" the group nodded in agreement before Nala nuzzled her mate.

"I'm counting on you, Simba…and so is our baby." Kyrie gave a mew of surprise as Simba looked away bashfully. The others smiled and rejoiced at the news, before Timon sighed.

"Great! Now we're going to have to babysit!" he sighed, making everyone but Kyrie laugh at the comment. But Kyrie was silent as she stared at the lioness curiously, she was having a baby?

"_A baby…" _she thought as she stared. But the laughter had died down as Simba looked at the four.

"Let's go see Rafiki first. I'm sure he'll be able to tell us something about that ghost."

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><p><strong>Yep. We're in the Pride Lands. For some reason, I didn't really like how they made Simba the 2nd time around, since he's all EMO and stuff like that. Well, the better term is Angsty, but I like Emo better. <strong>

**Anyways, so Axel's pissed because he thinks Kyrie doesn't love him, even though she does. Aren't I a stinker?**

**Axel: Yes, yes you are.**

**Me: ...That was a rhetorical question, Axel!**

**Axel: Whatever. Anyways, review on how the story's goin' so far. R-E-V-I-E-W. Got it memorized?**


	62. Scar's Ghost

**Man, that the HECK is up with FF? I couldn't get on and post this for most of the day! Damn you FF, damn you...**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts (c) Square Enix**

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><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 62

The group made their way down the large rock formation and into the Stone Hollow, meeting the baboon as he waited patiently at the entrance. He quickly led them inside with his staff, before he looked at Simba. "Oh ho ho! The king… he is ready to be king?" the old baboon asked the young king. He nodded.

"I think so."

"Can you tell us about Scar's ghost?" Sora asked the shaman. Rafiki nodded. "Oh, yes…the ghost. A being with no body. It is created when the evil heart of Scar meets the hesitating heart of Simba."

"Hesitating?" Simba asked in confusion. At this, Rafiki turned to him. "You thought you weren't?"

"Gawrsh, that ghost sounds just like a Heartless." Goofy commented. Kyrie nodded in agreement.

"_Yeah, it does sound like a heartless. And since Scar became a heartless before we cut him down, it would make perfect sense. But something still bothers me…what does Rafiki mean when he mentioned Simba's heart?" _she thought as she looked back and forth between the lion and baboon. Sora was silent for a moment before frowning.

"Hm, I don't know." He spoke, his brows furrowed in thought. Rafiki nodded as he turned to Sora.

"You're right, you don't. But you do know it is upsetting. And it is upsetting the hearts of everybody in the Pride Lands. You may not know what it is, but it still IS. This world, it is full of many such things. And these things, a king must face. It is the test that has been set before you, Simba." The baboon explained to them. But Simba scoffed.

"That's all? Come on. You have to tell us more about the ghost…" he urged. But the baboon shook his head. "No, not today! But the hyenas in the Elephant Graveyard may know more. Does not matter, though. There is little the Simba of late can do."

"Aw, don't say that! Not when he's ready to try!" Sora spoke adamantly. But the baboon sighed softly.

"In his head, perhaps…but what about his heart?" at this, Simba turned to Sora and shook his head. "Forget it, Sora. Let's head for the Elephant Graveyard." With that, he walked out, Sora and the others following behind. Kyrie stood there for a moment hesitantly, before looking back at the baboon. Rafiki stared right back and gave her a smile.

"You are curious of my words to Simba, no? Simba will not be able to fight the evil heart of Scar if his heart is still hesitant. He must find his own path, not the one Mufasa took. In the end, he can only be Simba." the baboon explained. The white leopard nodded as she turned, waving a paw at him before leaving.

-A little while later, Elephant graveyard-

"Hey! Wait!" Donald called as the group walked into the graveyard, spotting the three hyenas as they walked. They paused and glanced back, irritation crossing their features.

"Aw, come on. Can't you guys just leave us alone?" Banzai complained. Kyrie hissed a little and crouched, ready to pounce if the three did anything that signaled for a fight. But Simba was more straightforward as he spoke.

"Do you three know anything about Scar's ghost?" he asked calmly. Shenzi cocked her head to the side, confused. "Huh? Scar's ghost?" at this, Ed began to laugh hysterically, making the three smirk maliciously as they turned tail and began to run.

"Maybe." Banzai called back. Sora growled. "You do know something!" but the hyenas kept running, prompting the five to chase after them. Kyrie was quick as she jumped up a ledge and ran along it, before jumping down in front of the three, scattering them. She quickly went after Banzai and lunged, sinking her teeth into the only area she could reach, his tail. The hyena screamed loudly and began to buck, but she held on tight.

"Gah, not again! What is it with you and biting my tail?" Banzai wailed. Kyrie simply smirked, his tail still clenched between her jaws. _"Blegh! His tail tastes awful! Oh well…" _she thought as she bit down harder, causing him to wail in pain. After a few more minutes, the others apprehended Shenzi and Ed, cornering the three against a rock wall as Kyrie released her hold on the hyena's tail. After a few seconds of rubbing his behind, he stared mockingly at them. "Oh no…I guess you caught us ALL."

"What're we gonna do?" Shenzi mocked, Ed laughing all the while. The group growled as they glared at the three.

"Tell me about Scar's ghost!" Simba demanded. But Banzai shook his head. "Sorrrry. We don't know nothin'."

"Ooh, wait! It's coming back to me! That's the one that only hangs out around fraidy cats. Right, Banzai?" Shenzi laughed. Simba roared. "Enough!" Kyrie crouched and got ready to pounce, before she felt something dark and dangerous approaching. Turning, she gasped as Scar's ghost appeared, making the others turn as well.

"Must be a fraidy cat around here somewhere!" Shenzi mocked. Sora turned to Simba, who had a look of pure distress on his face. "Simba do something."

"How does it feel to be king, hmm? Why, you must be a truly inspiring ruler by now. After all, you ARE the son of the great Mufasa." The ghost spoke, taunting him. Kyrie hissed and raised her hackles as she got in front of Sora. Simba looked at the ghost hesitantly before backing up and taking off, leaving the four behind.

"Ah, Simba…running away as always." The ghost taunted, making Kyrie snarl as she turned her attention back to him. With that it disappeared in a shroud of darkness, making the leopard cub shiver in uneasiness.

"Simba!" Sora called after the lion. But he was quickly gone, the hyenas laughing as they walked away as well. "Gawrsh, Rafiki was right." Goofy spoke after a moment. Sora looked at him.

"You mean, Simba's still unsure?" he asked. Kyrie nodded silently, padding over to the entrance of the graveyard as the three conversed. She looked on at the barren wasteland, a lump in her throat.

"_Simba, why did you run? Are you giving up? What about Timon, Pumba, the lionesses, and Nala? They still need you…and your baby! What about your baby, Simba?" _she thought as she stared. Sora, Donald, and Goofy joined her, the young cub looking at her as she turned to them.

"C'mon, we've gotta tell Nala and the others what happened." he spoke, nudging her. She nodded and followed as the three made their way to Pride Rock, meeting Nala, Timon, Pumba, and Rafiki. Sora, Donald, and Goofy began to explain the situation to them while Kyrie continued to scan the distance, hoping to see a flash of golden fur. When she didn't, she gave a soft sigh, disappointed. She felt something land on her back and turned, to see Donald looking at her.

"Are you okay?" he asked. She gave a small shrug, making the duck nod as Sora and Goofy joined them.

"Timon and Pumba said we can find him at the Oasis. We better get going." Sora informed her. She nodded and the four took off running, trying to get to the young king as quick as they could before anything bad happened to him.

"_Don't worry, Simba! We're coming!" _Kyrie thought as she ran. But once they got to the Wildebeest valley, the boys slowed down to prepare their jump, but Kyrie only sped up as she reached the crevice, using all of her strength to jump, flying over and landing gracefully on the other side. Not stopping, she kept going, leaving Sora and the others behind.

By the time she realized that the boys weren't behind her, she was already in the jungle, just about to enter the Oasis. She looked back and right, her tail twitching and her eyes blinking owlishly. _"Huh? Where'd they go?" _she thought as she blinked. Shrugging her shoulders, she shook her head as she walked into the Oasis, knowing that they would catch up sooner or later. Walking into the clearing, she spotted Simba with his head resting on his paws as he stared off into space listlessly. She padded over quietly, stopping and waving her paw in front of his face. But he was still unresponsive, so she did the only thing she could, bite his ear. She gave a small chomp and waited until he gasped, realizing that something had bit him. He gave a roar of surprise as she let go, before sitting up and looking down, realizing her presence.

"Oh, Kyrie, it's you. What're you- how'd you get here? Where's Sora?" he asked. She shrugged her shoulders and he remembered, she couldn't talk. "Oh…sorry. I forgot." he spoke after a moment. She smiled and shook her head before holding out a paw and lightly touching his. He gave a soft smile and a sigh before lying back down, staring off into the distance like before. She made no move or sound to interrupt, but instead sat beside him, staring at the sky. After a minute, Simba looked up at the sky as well.

"Father…!" he mumbled softly. Kyrie perked her ears at the sound of something approaching and turned, only to spot Scar's ghost as it stared at them smugly.

"Hmm. It seems even your daddy's abandoned you. How sad." He stated smugly. Kyrie growled softly as she took a step forward, placing herself at Simba's side as she glared at the ghost.

"_That's not true! His father didn't abandon him, no parent would ever abandon their child!" _she thought as she bared her teeth, her hackles rising. But the ghost began to approach and the two backed up, not knowing what harm it could cause if either got in contact with it. The ghost kept walking and the two kept backing up, before they reached the cliffside. Kyrie looked down before looking up, realizing just in what danger they were in. _"Oh, what are we going to do? Ghosts can't be touched by a blade, but I'm pretty sure they can harm you. Simba…" _

"Simba!" the two perked up as they spotted Sora, Donald, and Goofy running towards them, alarmed looks on their faces. The ghost looked back at them before disappearing, Simba sighing as the three finally reached them. "It's no use. I'll never be the king my father was."

"But Simba…that's not what you're supposed to be. You can't be Mufasa. You can only be you. Everybody believes in you as a king. They just want to see what you'll do. And if anyone's saying they liked your father better, it's because you haven't done much yet. That's all." Sora explained. Simba was quiet for a moment before looking up.

"I know that."

"Then stop moping and DO something!" Sora exclaimed. Simba growled. "I can't!" all was quiet for a few moments as Simba looked away, before Sora `hmphed`.

"Fine."

"Let's go, Sora."

"Yeah, why stick around if he's not even gonna try? C'mon, Goofy, Kyrie!" Sora spoke as he walked off, Donald flying above him. Goofy looked back and forth between the two sides hesitantly before following. But Kyrie stayed exactly where she was, she wasn't going to abandon Simba. Right now, he needed someone, and she was the kind of person who wouldn't abandon anyone. No matter the reason. After a moment, he looked and spotted her as she sat by his side, waiting silently.

"You're not going after them?" at this, she shook her head. He gave a small smile before he perked up, looking behind him to see Scar's ghost once more. Kyrie growled and stiffened, before he spoke.

"The hesitant king will one day lose all of his friends." the ghost spoke. Kyrie perked up, recognizing the strange voice. It wasn't Scar who was speaking! Looking behind the ghost, she spotted Sora, Donald, and Goofy as they hid behind a fallen log. Smiling, she winked at them before looking at the ghost, a mask of fright on her face. Sora, Donald, and Goofy nodded, smiling at her.

"_Time to play the part of the frightened little girl. Hopefully, this can get Simba motivated, especially with Sora, Donald, and Goofy playing the role of Scar the bad guy." _she thought as she began her little act. Simba looked at the seemingly frightened cub at his side, before glaring at the ghost. "King Simba the doubtful…"

"Worried by a silly ol' ghost…" Kyrie backed up a little more, inching towards the cliff. Simba looked back and his eyes widened.

"Ooh, Simba the do-nothing king…" Simba growled as he turned his attention back on the ghost, stepping in front of Kyrie. "No!"

"Try and stop me!" with that, he lunged, going through the ghost and making it disappear in a flash of darkness. Sora and the others came out of hiding, joyous expressions on their faces. "You did it! The ghost is gone!" Sora exclaimed.

"We knew you could do it!" Donald added. Goofy nodded. "Hooray for Simba!" Simba smiled at the three as Kyrie came out from behind his large forearm, joining the three.

"You know, I'm really lucky to have friends who'll stand by me…and help me see clearly. My father…wasn't so fortunate." He started. Sora sighed and rolled his eyes.

"There you go again."

"What I mean is…Everyone here, and in the Pride Lands, wants me to succeed. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Kyrie. Pumbaa, Timon, Rafiki…Nala. You all want what's best for me. But my father always had Scar lurking behind his back, trying to cut him down. I've got to make the most of my blessings, and rebuild this kingdom." He explained. Sora smiled.

"Are you gonna say it, or do it?" the older lion smirked. "Wait and see." Kyrie smiled at the two lions, relieved that the whole conflict between them was over. But a sudden cry from the jungle made them jump.

"Simba!" turning, they spotted Timon as he ran to them. "Simba! Come quick! There's a bazillion ghosts of Scar haunting the Pride Lands! Everyone but Nala high-tailed it outta there. And now she needs your help." He exclaimed. The group gasped and nodded, running past the meerkat and into the jungle. He sighed.

"Our little Simba all grown up and finding his place in the world." Simba skidded to a halt and looked back at him. "Nice try. You're coming, too!"

* * *

><p><strong>We're getting closer and closer to Hollow Bastion, and then to Twilight town. You all know what this means... ;)<strong>

**Til' next time, see ya!**


	63. Of Books and Nightmares

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 63

By the time they got to Pride Rock, Nala and Pumba were backed up against the cliff, Scar's ghost preventing their escape. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Kyrie were the first to arrive, making Nala and Pumba look at them in dismay. "Where's Simba?"

"_He's right here." _Kyrie thought as she and the others moved to the sides, bowing as the young king approached, making Nala sigh in relief when she spotted him. He stared back proudly, no sign of his earlier hesitation left in his expression.

"I'm back, Nala." he assured her. The ghost turned his attention to him and began to approach, making the four look back and forth. Once it got to him, he stared back at it, before snarling. "Get out!"

With that, it vanished, making the group sigh in relief as Simba and Nala rejoiced, butting heads and batting each other playfully with their paws. Kyrie smiled at the sight but gasped when orbs of darkness began to gather in the Pride Lands, making Simba look up before turning to them.

"Are you with me?" the group nodded as they bowed their heads.

"Now and forever, Your Majesty!"

-Savannah-

"_Whoa…" _Kyrie thought as they ran in, spotting the mass of darkness forming a large rhino-like heartless. It was ten times bigger than the five of them put together, and she felt a bit apprehensive about fighting it. But she shook that thought away quickly, the heartless had to be destroyed, and that was that.

"Let's go!" Sora called as he and Simba ran in, Kyrie at their sides as she summoned her keyblades between her teeth and tail. Donald and Goofy followed, gaining the large heartless' attention as it turned to them, while Sora, Simba, and Kyrie climbed onto its back. They spotted another heartless, which looked like the controller of the larger one, sitting on the center of its back. It resembled a double-headed shaman.

"_Time to say your prayers!" _Kyrie thought as she ran in, avoiding its lightning attacks and swinging the keyblade between her teeth down, slashing its shoulder as she did so. Sora and Simba followed after her, but as soon as they moved in, the heartless performed a spell, throwing them off the larger heartless' back and onto the ground.

"Wack!" Donald cried as he flew over, the three getting back on their feet as they shook their fur off. Looking back at the larger heartless, Sora growled.

"This isn't gonna be easy." Kyrie nodded in agreement as the heartless began to rampage, its heavy footsteps causing the ground to shake as it stomped around, trying to squish them under its feet as it did so. Kyrie growled as she ran ahead of the heartless, her small legs much faster than its heavier ones. She quickly swerved and ran right at it, before jumping, landing on one of its tusks. She quickly shoved her keyblade into its eye, making it scream in agony. This gave Sora and Simba a chance to get back on its back, Donald following after them as Goofy ran on the ground, trying to keep it distracted.

"_Hurry, Sora!" _Kyrie thought as it shook its head, trying to throw her off. But she held on to its tusk tightly, fearing that if she let go, she would get seriously hurt. But the large heartless reared its head, throwing her off and to the ground as she landed with a heavy thud.

"_Ugh!" _she thought as she landed, the breath knocked out of her. Goofy gasped as he ran over, concerned for the young leopard.

"Gawrsh, Kyrie! Are you okay?" he cried as he joined her side. She nodded and quickly got back on her feet, running at the heartless as she and Goofy began to distract it. The turtle gasped as Kyrie shoved him out of the way, the two nearly getting trampled by the large heartless.

"_Man, this thing is getting on my nerves!" _she thought as she lunged, slamming the keyblade in her mouth against one of its shins. It gave a roar and stumbled, but was quickly back on its feet. After a few minutes, the fight was over as the heartless slumped and disappeared. The group was silent for a few moments before they began to cheer, Sora and Kyrie running circles around each other batting their paws playfully as Simba followed. With that done, they headed to Pride Rock and met up with Timon, Pumba, Nala, and Rafiki. Sora looked at Simba as he went to greet Nala. "Simba seems fine now."

"Ha! The king has returned! The Pride Lands will not forget King Simba's courage. Or the courage of those who fought beside him." He spoke, indicating Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Kyrie. Simba nodded before looking at them.

"Do you think your quest will ever be over?" he asked. Kyrie shrugged while Sora sighed.

"I don't know…but I think, as long as the keyblade stays with me…I'll have to keep fighting." He answered. Kyrie nodded as she summoned her own keyblade, placing it next to his.

"Ahh…The struggle never ends. That is the great Circle of Life." Rafiki explained. They looked at him. "Never ever?"

"The secret to victory…is a strong heart." Rafiki explained as he stroked his chin, before placing his hand against his chest. They nodded before he started shouting, making them jump. "Go on, go on, go go then! Go on, get out! Yes, yes! It is time! Your fight continues…" he exclaimed, raising his staff. Sora smiled as he turned to Simba.

"Til' we meet again, Your Majesty." Simba smiled and nodded in understanding. "I hope that's soon." Timon nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, you guys should pop in more often! We can teach you all about Hakuna Matata!" he exclaimed. Sora nodded in agreement.

"It will be, so long."

"_Yeah…goodbye, everyone." _Kyrie thought as they walked away, giving one last look at the group before disappearing in a flash of light. But inside the stone hollow, four drawings were displayed along that of Simba's. A dark lion, a bird, a turtle, and a white leopard.

-Gummi Ship-

"Okay, so we're going to Hollow Bastion next, right? I wanna see how Leon's doing." Sora asked as he looked at Donald. The duck nodded as he set the coordinates for Hollow Bastion, Kyrie sitting down in her usual seat. She sighed and relaxed before a thump startled her, making her look down. The book she had gotten from Merlin was at her feet, but…something seemed…different with it.

"_Huh? The cover…it doesn't look as worn and beat up as it used to be. That, and now I can see the title of the book! 'The Beginning of the Worlds'. Hmm…" _she quickly settled in her seat, now curious about the fact that the book had somehow changed in appearance. But should she read it?

"**Yes, princess. You must read it. This book is, after all, the key to your past." **a familiar disembodied voice spoke. It sounded neither male or female, making the girl relax.

"_It's…the key to my past? How?"_

"**You won't know until you find out." **Opening to the page she left off at, she began to read.

**In the end, both sides perished, leaving the princess heartbroken at the loss of so many lives and a scarred battlefield where only the lifeless keys remained. This place was then called the "Keyblade Graveyard", in reference to the war that tore the world apart. Strangely, the Prince of Darkness grieved as well, and both decided that Kingdom Hearts must never be opened.**

**But one day, the Prince of Darkness grew tired of his servitude to Kingdom Hearts, and desired to see what the worlds truly looked like, instead of always watching life go one from above. He wanted freedom from his prison, to be able to see the outside worlds far from his home. It is that desire that drove him to betray both Kingdom Hearts and the Princess of Light. **

**When he had the chance, he discarded his immortality and descended down to the worlds, becoming a mortal in the process. But even in mortal form, the prince of Darkness had complete control of the dark element itself, and used it to his advantage. **

**Knowing that the heart of all worlds could be in danger because of this, the princess followed after him, but unknowingly became a mortal as well. Once she descended onto the Keyblade Graveyard, she realized her error and tried to go back, only to find out that she could never return because of her reckless behavior. **

**Her only choice was to spend the rest of her life as a human, in hopes of being able to join with the mighty heart once more in death. But as she aged, she soon realized that it wasn't a simple as that. To rejoin Kingdom Hearts once more, something more had to be done. **

**But the princess had no inkling for what was needed to be done to rejoin the heart, and lived and died as a human. But from there, she was reincarnated, still possessing her powers from her previous life as she moved on to the next one.**

**The prince of Darkness' fate was the same, as he died and was reincarnated. This began the cycle of rebirth, as both beings lived and died before being reborn into the next life, still possessing their powers and some memories of their previous lives deep within their hearts and souls. **

**But in order for them to stop this painful cycle of life, death, and rebirth, they must- **

Kyrie frowned when she turned the page, only to find that the rest of the pages had been ripped out. She heard three sighs behind her and jumped, turning to see Sora, Donald, and Goofy staring at the book in her hands.

"Aw…we can't finish the story now!" Sora whined. She stiffened before growling, getting to her feet and whacking the boy with the cried out, rubbing his head as he stared at her.

"What was that for?" he exclaimed. She quickly pulled out her notebook and began to write, before shoving it in his face.

**Sora, don't you know that it's rude to read over people's shoulders without permission! You guys scared me half to death! **

The guys looked at each other before looking at her.

"Gawrsh, we're sorry. Ya just seemed to interested in the book we couldn't find an opportunity to ask." Goofy explained. She was silent for a few moments before sighing, shaking her head before she smiled at them and wrote.

**It's okay, I guess. But next time, you should ask. Okay?**

The boys smiled as they nodded eagerly.

"Okay!"

-That Night-

Kyrie shifted restlessly in her sleep, her face contorted in pain as she dreamed.

…

**"Where…am I?" **I thought as I looked around. I was standing in a familiar place, but I couldn't remember the name to it. After a few moments, I remembered. It was the Betwixt and Between, the pathway that led to the World that Never Was.

"_K…Kyrie…" _I turned around and gasped, my heart shuddering. Axel was lying a few feet away, his body slowly disappearing as the darkness around him began to eat at him. I ran forward and slid to his side, taking his hand in mine as I looked down at him. He was looking at me with the most peaceful expression that I ever saw, and it made my heart moan.

"_Kyrie…d-don't cry…" _he whispered as he reached up, brushing his hand against my cheek. Tears were falling from my cheeks now as I stared at him, his face blurred from the tears. **"Axel…no! Please, don't go! Please!"** I tried to say, but my mouth only moved, no sound came out.

"_It's okay…everything's gonna be okay. Got it…memorized?" _he whispered as he faded away. I shook my head, why was he lying to me? Here he is, fading away into darkness, while I can only hold his hand. My chest radiated such pain that I actually thought someone was driving a thousand knives into my chest, stabbing me repeatedly.

**"No, Axel please…don't leave me! I…I…" **I thought as I cried. I wanted to tell him how I feel, but I couldn't. He smiled at me tenderly as he cupped my cheek with his hand.

"_Kyrie…I'm sorry…" _he whispered before closing his eyes. I watched as his body disappeared, fading from my arms like dust. I stared at the place he had been only moments before, before raising my head towards the sky. With that, I screamed, the lament clear in my voice as I screamed.

**"Axel…!" **

* * *

><p><strong>Yeah, Kyrie gets to read more of the mysterious book in this chappie. But what caused it's appearance to change? And does Kyrie's dream fortell of future events? And what will happen to Axel now?<strong>

**...What, don't look at me. I'm not gonna tell you!**

**Anyways, til' the next chapter, see ya! Oh, and happy Valentine's day/Single-Awareness day!**


	64. The MCWho?

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 64

Kyrie awoke with a start as she sat up, panting heavily as sweat fell from her brow. Looking around, she sighed in relief and slumped back into her chair, relieved that it was all a dream. Her heart was hammering wildly in her chest, despite the fact that she knew it was a dream. Or, a nightmare to be more specific.

"_But…it seemed so real…" _she thought as her fingers brushed her cheek, finding tracks made by her tears. Looking over, she saw Donald as he manned the controls, with Sora and Goofy asleep in their chairs from the long voyage. After a minute, he quacked.

"We're here!" he called, waking up the boys as they yawned and stretched. Kyrie was quick to wipe her face as they got up and approached, looking at the screen. Sora smiled.

"Hollow Bastion, here we come!"

-Hollow Bastion, Market street-

The group was quiet as they walked into town, before spotting a line of soldier heartless as they ran by and disappeared. Sora stopped. "Wait a sec…I thought everything was supposed to be under control here!" he gasped. A `ping` sound caught their attention as Donald turned, pointing.

"Hey, look!" he cried. They turned and saw the defense mechanism, but…something was wrong with it. Kyrie narrowed her eyes.

"_Something's wrong with the mechanism…but…what?" _she thought as she stared.

"Must be Organization XIII again. We better go see Leon." Sora scowled. Donald and Goofy nodded as the boys ran off, but Kyrie stayed where she was. She knew that something wasn't right, but had a feeling that it had nothing to do with Organization XIII. For the moment, anyways. With a huff, she followed after the boys as they ran through town, waving to Donald's nephews and uncle as they passed. The family of ducks waved as well, with Uncle Scrooge calling to them.

"When ye've done seeing Leon, come back and try my ice cream! I'm sure I've got it this time, lads and lass!" he exclaimed in his Scottish accent. The four nodded in agreement and continued into the Borough. Once they got to the steps that led to Merlin's house, a strange yellow object flew past them, startling Donald as it did so.

"Wack!" he cried as he jumped back to avoid it. Once it was gone, heartless began to appear, but not the normal variety that Kyrie knew. She raised her eyebrows at the bunch while the boys gasped, summoning their weapons. Decided to ask later, the girl summoned her keyblades, running in and taking out the first one that came at her.

"_These heartless… where did they come from? The guys seem to recognize them, but how? I've never seen them before…" _she thought as she fought, taking down each one that came her way. But a large purple one came at her, swinging its arms and catching her in the side, sending her flying.

"Kyrie!" she heard Sora cry as she flew. She closed her eyes and braced herself, preparing for the painful landing. But instead, she felt an arm reach out and grab the back of her jacket, holding her in the air as it did so. Looking back, she was surprised to see Axel as he held on, his other hand holding onto a gutter from one of the houses.

"You okay?" he asked. She nodded and he sighed, pulling her up so that she could wrap her arms around his neck while he transferred from the back of her neck to her waist. Once that was done, he pulled the both of them onto the roof. The two were quiet for a few moments, Kyrie blushing madly while Axel scratched the back of his head, neither knowing what to do at the moment.

"_Should I say something to him?"_

"_Should I ask her now?"_

"_But what can I say to him? Should I-" _but their thoughts were cut off as the sounds of fighting continued, the girl getting to her feet and summoning her keyblades once more. She looked back at Axel reluctantly and he nodded, understanding.

"It's okay, go. They need your help." he told her. She smiled and walked back, hugging him tightly as she buried her face into his neck. The pyro was speechless for a moment, before returning her embrace. After a few moments she released him and walked a few steps back. He stared at her, her eyes seemed full of melancholy as they stared into his emerald irises. With that, she was off, making him frown a little as she watched her disappear.

"Kyrie…"

-Back with Sora-

When she finally got to them, the trio were looking at each other in confusion. When they spotted her, they sighed in relief.

"Kyrie, you're okay! That's good." Sora sighed in relief. The girl smiled warmly at them but stopped when the door cracked open, Yuffie peering at them as she did so. When she realized that it was only them, she smiled and stepped out, waving in greeting.

"Come on in!" she greeted warmly, making the group stare at her blankly. She cocked her head to the side, confused by their expressions before Sora spoke up.

"Wait just a second…what happened to this place?" he asked. The girl was quiet before Goofy spoke as well. "Didn't that heartless look like the ones from Tron's world?" he added. Kyrie blinked as she stared at them.

"_Tron? Where have I heard that name before…" _after a few moments, she remembered. _"Oh yeah. They mentioned him last time when we were in Grandfather's study. Who is he, I wonder?" _she thought as Yuffie nodded.

"C'mon, just get inside!" she exclaimed as she reached out, grabbing Kyrie's arm and pulling the girl inside, the boys following after the two. Inside, Yuffie dragged the girl over to the computer, where Cid and Merlin were. Cid was typing furiously on the keyboards as he focused on the screen in front of him, with no help from either Yuffie or Merlin. "Hurry up, Cid!"

"Give me a second!" he shouted back as he typed. Merlin shook his head. "Confound it! Hurry!"

"Why, you…!"

"What's going on?" Sora asked as he looked at the group. The three turned to him as Yuffie released her hold on Kyrie's arm, making the girl sigh in relief as she joined the three boys. Cid smirked. "Talk about yer good timin'!"

"The MCP is wreaking havoc inside the computer." Yuffie explained. Donald sighed. "Not again!"

"According to Leon, anyway…" Cid spoke as he began to explain the situation. But while he did so, Kyrie looked back and forth between the group, completely confused. She had no idea what they were talking about, and had no idea who Tron and the MCP were.

"_But if something is wreaking havoc inside a computer, wouldn't it have to be IN the computer? This stuff is so confusing…"_

"That's a computer program for ya." Cid commented with a shake of his head. Sora uncrossed his arms and looked at him, the worry on his face clear as day. "How's Tron doing?"

"We can't reach him. We figure he must have been forced onto the game grid." Yuffie answered. Cid nodded. "And it don't sound like a particularly fun game, either." Donald sighed sadly as Sora nodded.

"We'll go check on Tron." he offered. The group nodded in agreement. "Thanks, kid. We're puttin' together an MCP Eradication program. I got a hunch it's almost finished, too." Cid explained. Merlin turned to him, a scowl on his face.

"Well, I hope your hunch is right, for once!" he scolded. Before Cid could retort, Yuffie cut in. "Listen, we're gonna need Tron's help when that Eradicator's completed…"

"Don't sweat it! We'll make sure to tell Tron!" Sora said as he placed his hand over his chest. The group smiled while Kyrie turned, heading for the door.

"_I guess we're heading over to Grandfather's study. Maybe while we're there, I can find more clues about myself. And at least get to meet this Tron guy." _she thought as she waited at the door. After a few moments, the boys joined her and nodded, and with that they walked out.

-A little while later-

The group panted heavily as they ran into the Postern, somewhat exhausted after dealing with groups of heartless of different varieties coming after them. _"Ugh…so many heartless! Who in the world does this MCP think he is? Grr…when I get my hands on him…"_ Kyrie thought as she and the boys stopped, taking a break from the run. But movement from the corner of their eyes caught them by surprise as three tiny, familiar fairies flew to them.

"Liars!" the brunette exclaimed, pointing at them. Sora blinked at them in confusion.

"Wha-?"

"Leon doesn't have any treasure!" the redhead added, placing her hands on her hips. "And we fought for you guys." the third added as she brushed her hair back. Kyrie face palmed as Goofy turned to Donald.

"Donald…?"

"Well, I had to tell them something!" Donald explained. The brunette shook her head. "I don't see how we're gonna work this out."

"So what should we do?" Sora asked them. The three turned to each other immediately, forming a small huddle as they conversed amongst themselves. After a few moments, the brunette turned to them. "We're just gonna take YOUR treasure."

"But we don't have anything!" he exclaimed.

"You sure?" the goth one asked as her red-headed companion flew over, checking the group over. "Hmm…let's take a look!" after a few minutes, she seemed to have found something valuable on Goofy, and flew back to her companions. After a few more whispers, they turned to them.

"Okay, we've decided! The Gullwings are taking all of your items!" the brunette exclaimed. Sora groaned. "You've gotta be kidding me!"

"Oh, foofie." she pouted, placing her hands on her hips.

"This stinks."

"So not cool…"

"_Aw, I feel bad for them. Maybe…" _Kyrie thought as she looked at her backpack, remembering the treasure she still had from the time she went to Agrabah. Sora leaned forward as he tried to apologize for Donald's lie. "Look, sorry we tricked you, but…"

"Forget about it. Leon told us the whole story. He said your journey's been pretty rough." the goth one explained. The brunette nodded. "So it wouldn't really be right if we took your things." she added.

"We'll root for you!" the redhead exclaimed. Kyrie smiled before holding her hand up, making them pause as they looked at her. "Yes?" the girl quickly dug through her backpack and pulled out three gems, making the three treasure fanatics gasp as she held the gems out to them.

"Really? For us?" the brunette asked. The white-haired girl grinned and nodded, making them cry excitedly as they took the gems from her hand.

"Wowie! This is so big!" the redhead cried as she looked at the ruby in her arms. The goth agreed. "Awesome."

"This is great! Thank you so much!" the brunette exclaimed as the three looked at the girl. Kyrie smiled and shook her head, but the three turned to each other and whispered amongst themselves. After a moment, they looked back at her.

"In return for your kindness, we'll do everything we can to help you on your journey! My name's Yuna." the brunette proclaimed.

"I'm Rikku!" the redhead added.

"And I'm Paine." the goth mumbled. Yuna smiled as she waved to them, sensing that it was time to depart. "Bye! Good luck on your journey!" and with that, they disappeared. After a few moments, Kyrie noticed Donald's eyes as they found the pocket where she kept the gems.

"You had treasure this whole time?" he demanded, pouting. She smiled and pulled out another gem, placing it on the duck's palm. He seemed pleased with this and pocketed the gem, making Sora and Goofy laugh.

"C'mon, guys. Leon's waiting for us!"

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><p><strong>GAH! What the hell is wrong with FF? I tried updating this all day, but it shut down on us again. Sorry, but this is royally ticking me off.<strong>

**Anyways, make sure you have lots of tissues next chapter. It's gonna get pretty depressing between Kyrie and Axel. Or maybe not. It made my beta sad, so I think it'll make you guys sad.**

**Anyways, see ya! And don't forget to review!**


	65. The Other Side of Sorrow

**Okay guys, here's the latest chapter of Bonded Souls! I just got back from Megacon, and MAN! Did I have a blast! It was so much fun... X3**

**You might wanna break out the tissues in this chapter, and NO. Axel doesn't die in this chapter. Because we're still in HOLLOW BASTION/RADIANT GARDEN. Whether or not I'll kill him off or not is still up in the air. Also, there are lyrics that appear in this chapter that kinda descibes the mood, and I suggest listening to the song while reading. The song is called "Kanashimi no Mukou e" from the game (not the anime) "School Days". Just go to youtube and look up the song/lyrics.**

**Now, on with the chapter!**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 65

Kyrie sighed as she stood in her grandfather's study. After arriving, Sora and the others darted into the computer room, eager to help Leon and Aerith. But the girl found herself strangely apprehensive, unable to move any further. Somewhere inside of her, something was telling her to go back and search for something. But…what?

"_Why do I feel this way? Argh…c'mon girl, get a grip." _she scowled as she placed her hands against her head, gripping her hair as she tried to calm herself down. At that moment, however, Leon appeared in the room and blinked at her. Noticing the girl's apprehension, he pointed over his shoulder.

"The boys already went inside Tron's world. If you want, you can come with me to get the eradicator." he explained. She deadpanned at this but nodded as she followed the stoic man out of the room, summoning her keyblades as she did so.

"_Damn, stupid instincts…oh well. I'll probably be no help because I've never been in Tron's world. Besides, Leon and the others need all of the help they can get!" _she thought as she ran after the man, cutting down each heartless that was foolish enough to get in her way. Leon growled as he slashed his way through a group of yellow robot-like heartless, looking back at the white-haired girl as he did so.

"Kyrie, be careful! These guys are stronger than the normal heartless, they can knock you out in a second!" he warned. She looked at him and nodded before jumping out of the way, avoiding one of the heartless as they tried to shock her with electricity. She smirked, sweeping one of her blades through their legs, causing them to fall to the ground as she struck the death blow.

"_These guys are nothing. Try fighting heartless on four legs." _she thought with a smirk as she ran after Leon again. As they ran through the postern to the bailey, Kyrie was aware of someone watching them, but when she looked around, no one was to be seen.

"_Something tells me that it isn't Demyx or Axel…" _she thought as she ran. Her eyes narrowed.

"_So if it's not them, who is it?"_

-A little while later-

Kyrie and Leon entered Merlin's home to find Cid working diligently on the computer, his fingers tapping the keys as he worked. Yuffie looked at them and smiled before approaching.

"Finished?" he asked. Cid snorted as he kept typing.

"Would be, if it weren't for the old loon's magic." he snapped as he stared at the screen. Merlin, who was looking over some books, looked at the middle-aged man and growled.

"OLD loon you say!"

"I'm tryin' to work here!" Cid snapped as he continued typing. Kyrie giggled silently into her palm, amused by the elderly gentlemen as they argued. Merlin growled as he summoned his wand.

"Oh ho-ho-ho, I'll show you who's old!" he exclaimed as he pointed the wand at Cid. Magic began to gather at its tip before he fired. But at that moment, Cid finished the eradicator and popped it out of the computer.

"Done!" he exclaimed. But he cried out and flew forward as the magic hit the computer, sparks flying at it caught fire. The man groaned as he lifted himself off the floor, holding the disk out to Leon.

"There you go, Leon. One homemade program. A loony wizard special." he explained as the man took the disk from his hands.

"This had better work." Merlin spoke as he hit the palm of his hand with his wand. Kyrie nodded as she stared at the disk, not sure what to make of it. Leon nodded.

"We're off."

"Be on your guard." the wizard cautioned as he turned his attention to Cid, who started running while Yuffie tried putting out the fire. With that, the duo turned and ran out, trying to get back to the study as fast as possible. But the heartless somehow sensed the change and were even more desperate to stop the duo as they got ever closer to the castle.

"_Ugh!" _Kyrie thought as one of the heartless threw her against the crystal wall, knocking the breath out of her. Leon was having equal difficulty as the heartless surrounded him, backing him into the wall beside the girl as she got to her feet.

"Damn…this doesn't look good…" he whispered as he held the gun blade out in front of him. Kyrie nodded grimly before shoving Leon towards the castle, making the man look back at her in confusion as she squared off against the heartless horde.

"Kyrie, you can't take them alone!" he protested. But she quickly shook her head and shoved him again, pointing in the direction of the castle with one of her keyblades.

"_Leon, I'll be fine, go! Sora and the others need that Eradicator!" _she thought as she stared at the man. He stared at her silently for a few moments before nodding, taking off towards the castle.

"Be careful!" he called as he ran, with her turning her attention back to the heartless horde as they closed in. _"He's right, I can't take on this horde by myself. The heartless aren't the normal variety, so it's harder to fight them. What can I do…?" _she thought as she moved, dodging an attack a large, purple robot-like heartless threw at her. Her memories flashed back to the events of the last time they were in Hollow Bastion, when she destroyed the heartless with a wave of light.

"_Maybe…I can do it again. Concentrate…concentrate…" _she thought as she closed her eyes. But no matter how hard she concentrated, the power wouldn't come. Something was stopping her. Growling silently, she opened her eyes again and dodged another attack.

"_Why isn't it working?" _she thought angrily as she slashed apart a heartless that had been foolish enough to come after her. Suddenly though, a familiar chakram flew into the horde, eliminating a few heartless right off the bat. Kyrie smiled as she looked, to see Axel as he caught the chakram, smirking at her.

"Hey, need a hand?" he smirked. She smiled and nodded before he ran in, throwing his chakrams and destroying more heartless as she joined him, the two joining forces as they took down the horde. Once they were done, Kyrie turned to Axel and smiled, wiping some sweat from her brow as she did so. So HE had been the one watching them… and here she thought it had been someone else. He smiled right back and dispelled his chakrams before approaching her.

"Man, I can't leave you alone for five minutes without you getting into trouble." he teased. She blushed madly, shoving his shoulder before crossing her arms and turning away. He chuckled lightly before ruffling her hair, making her turn and smile. After a few minutes, they became silent as they stared at each other. She quickly looked away, her cheeks flushing crimson. Axel stared at her as she began to fiddle with her hands, not daring to return his gaze.

"_I don't know how she'll react, but…" _without warning, he moved, backing her up against the wall and he placed his hands on either side of her, pinning her there. She stared at him in confusion as her cheeks flushed even darker, confused and surprised at the sudden action. He stared down at the girl, his eyes alight as they stared into her own, trying to find the answers he was looking for. He slowly reached down, and brushed her cheek with his fingertips, before cupping her cheek.

_If I can make my way to the other side of sorrow,_

_Then I don't need warmth or tomorrow anymore._

She felt a billion emotions welling deep inside her chest, but the most prominent were love and sorrow. She cared about this man so much, but feared that he would disappear and leave her behind. The dream still fresh in her mind, she closed her eyes tightly, trying to fight off the torrent of sorrow that threatened to break free.

But the thought of him still, cold, lifeless, disappearing from her arms…it was like someone had taken a dagger and stabbed her. It was torture.

Tears began to drip down her cheeks, alarming him as he tried to wipe them away.

"Kyrie, what's wrong?"

_The dream that landed in the darkness of silence,_

_Who…? Is the light that briefly spilled on my cheeks._

"_I…I don't want him to go. I…don't want him to leave…I don't want him to…die…" _she thought as she buried her face into her palms. Suddenly, she felt him pulling her closer, so that she rested against him. Looking up, she was surprised to see a tender look in his eyes as he stared down at her. It almost looked…loving.

"It's okay, I'm here. I'm here."

_Why…? Without knowing the method to stop an all too fragile world,_

_I was simply wishing, that's right, for oblivion. _

With that she slumped to the ground, him holding her tightly as she spilled her emotions into his chest, her shoulders shaking as she sobbed silently. He simply held her, the person he cared about more than anything, as she cried.

_If I can make my way to the other side of sorrow,_

_Then I'd like to not feel anything beyond this anymore. _

"_I can't tell her, not now. Not like this." _he thought as she cried against his chest. He had no idea what had brought on this emotion, but he knew it probably had something to do with the look she gave him earlier. Something was troubling her, but he had no idea what.

_Why…? The repeating words, the collapsed promise, _

_Echoed conspicuously and beautifully, and now, severed. _

_Will you return to the other side of despair? _

_The utmost love entrusts its unblemished body to the eternal sail._

He brushed his cheek against her head, resting it there as she tried to calm herself down.

_If I can make my way to the other side of sorrow, _

_Then I won't even fear the lonely slumber anymore._

He had no idea how long the two had sat there, with her face buried in his chest, but soon she was able to calm down. Taking a shaky breath, she pulled back, trying her best to wipe away her tears. But a hand on her cheek stopped her, and she looked up to see Axel wiping her tears away, his face unreadable as he did so. He gave her a small smile.

"You okay?" he asked softly. She nodded silently. "Wanna talk about it?" She looked away for a moment before nodding again. Pulling out her notebook, she recounted the dream, with him reading along silently as she did so. Once she was done, he gave a small chuckle.

"Silly. There's no way that will ever happen." he spoke. She stared at him, doubting his words. Both of them knew that Axel was in danger of fading himself, but the man wasn't going to let that fact stop him from being with her. He leaned in, causing her to blush brightly as he stared at her.

"Kyrie, I won't disappear. And I'll always be by your side, got it…memorized?" he whispered before placing a chaste kiss on her forehead, making her blush darken as she stared at him in surprise. He smirked. "I'm not letting you get away." he whispered playfully into her ear as he pulled away. With that, he stood, holding his hand out to her. Taking it, he helped her to her feet before pointing in the direction of the castle.

"Go catch up with them, I'll try and meet with you later." he ordered. She nodded furiously and ran, brushing her fingertips against her forehead as she did so.

"_Why did he…does this mean that he…cares for me, too?"_

-Ansem's Study-

"Kyrie!" the girl stopped and turned just as Yuffie ran in. "Are things okay here?" she asked. The girl shrugged and Yuffie nodded, before the two ran into the computer room, finding Aerith at the controls.

"Things are settling down in town! The only heartless left are the local variety. And it looks like there are fewer than before." Yuffie exclaimed. Kyrie smiled at the news, Hollow Bastion was on its way to going back the way it used to be. Aerith smiled sadly and nodded.

"Now if we can get those three back in one piece…" Kyrie frowned and looked at the computer. _"Sora…Donald…Goofy…c'mon guys." _she thought as she clasped her hands over her chest tightly. Suddenly though, the laser emitted a flash of light, and within seconds, Sora, Donald, and Goofy were in the room.

"You're here!" Aerith exclaimed as she, Yuffie, and Kyrie jumped for joy. "Welcome back!" Sora nodded and looked down for a moment, before looking at the three. "How's the town?"

"A-okay!"

"Not a single trace left of the MCP, either. Everything's back to normal. We made it." Aerith explained. Kyrie's eyes narrowed as she and Yuffie leaned in, curious on the disheartened look on the boy's face. "Hey, why the long face? What happened?"

"Tron just disappeared." Donald explained. Sora nodded. "And he promised we'd see him again…" a sudden beeping stopped the group as they turned their attention to the computer screen.

"What's happened?"

"Greetings, friends. System is up, and ready for User input."

"Tron!" Sora, Donald, and Goofy exclaimed. The voice on the computer chuckled. "Stay in touch."

"Yeah!" Sora agreed as Donald ran over to the computer, instantly tapping the keys. "Oh boy, oh boy!"

"Hey, stop that! It tickles!"

"Tron is ticklish?" Goofy asked, his eyebrows raised. Kyrie shrugged her shoulders while a devious look crossed Sora's features, the boy approaching the computer and beginning to tap the keys wildly. "How 'bout this?"

"Please, stop that!"

"I think Tron's been hanging around those guys too much." Yuffie whispered to Aerith and Kyrie, who were trying to hold back their own laughter as they watched the boys. Kyrie nodded in agreement. _"I agree, but then again, boys will be boys."_

"W-wait, wait just a moment. I want to show you something that I dug up from the system achieves. You can see the town back when it was first built." with that, the computer lit up with a flash of light, blinding the group for a second before fading away.

"Huh?"

"Go and look outside. You can see better there." Tron explained. Sora nodded as he, Donald, Goofy, and Kyrie ran ahead, eager to see what was going on outside. Yuffie and Aerith followed close behind, and when they got to the castle Postern, they were amazed at what they saw. Lights were falling from the sky and five pillars of light formed in the sky above them.

"_Oh…" _Kyrie thought as she stared in amazement. Aerith smiled and turned to them, finally remembering the true name of their world.

"You know, this town had another name once. Radiant Garden."

"_I was right…this town was named Radiant Garden. But then…why-" _suddenly, a sharp pain interrupted her thoughts, causing the girl to gasp loudly as she grasped her temples, a terrible pain throbbing deep inside. The group turned at this, and gasped when the girl's knees buckled and she collapsed.

"Kyrie!"

"Kyrie, what's wrong?"

"Hang on!"

"What happened?"

"Kyrie, please, just hang on. We're going to-" Aerith soothed as she knelt over her. Kyrie blinked blearily at them, her sight going.

And then, everything went dark.

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><p><strong>Uh-oh...I know. Damn me and my damn cliffhangers. I just have too much fun screwing with you guys!<strong>

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Now Imma go and make me a sammich.**

**Review!**


	66. The Legend

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts (c) Square Enix**

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><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 66

"_Mama, can you tell me a story?"_

"_Of course, sweetheart. What story would you like to hear?"_

"_Tell me about the one with the Princess of Light."_

I opened my eyes and found myself in a child's room. The walls were painted a soft lilac, and the floors had matching carpet. Toys littered the room, and millions of drawings covered the walls. Strangely, the toys were all star-shaped, varying in sizes and some of them even had faces sewn on. A bed centered the room, where a silver-haired woman and a white-haired little girl sat. Then I gasped, the child was me! And the woman was my mother!

"_Sweetie, you've heard it a dozen times!" _my mother laughed as she tucked my younger self into bed. But she just stared back, pouting a little. _"But it's my favorite!" _she protested. The woman smiled softly and ran a hand through her hair, before pulling the thick quilt up to the child's shoulders.

"_All right, then. Well, long, long ago, there was once a small glimmer of light-"_

"_That light was Kingdom Hearts, right Mama?" _she asked. The woman nodded as she continued.

"_Yes, that light was Kingdom Hearts. You see, Kingdom Hearts was the first thing to ever exist, even before the universe. But since it was the first, it was also the only. And after some time, the mighty heart grew lonely, and wanted a companion."_

"_Aw…poor thing." _my younger self sniffled as tears began to form at the corner of her eyes. The silver-haired woman smiled gently and stroked her hair.

"_So one day, it decided to make a companion. Taking a part of itself, it created a young girl-"_

"_Who became the Princess of Light, right Mama?" _she chirped. The woman nodded. _"Yes, that's right. The girl became the Princess of Light, Kingdom Hearts' companion. And the two were happy together, enjoying each other's company as they played."_

I watched on silently as my younger self gave a giggle and cuddled a familiar star plush against her chest. Was this my memory?

"**This is more than just a memory. This is the tale of who you are, princess. Try to remember. Remember yourself." **a familiar voice spoke. But I growled, how can I remember?

"_After a while, the princess saw that the universe was dull and lifeless, and it saddened her. Turning to her companion, she said `The universe is so dark, so desolate. Let's make a world, a world creatures can live in happily and in harmony. We can make more, too, so that the universe isn't so dark anymore.` and with that, the two combined their powers and created the very first world."_

"_The Radiant Garden!" _my younger self squeaked. The woman laughed and nodded as she continued. _"Yes, our world. Once it was created, they also created the sun, the sky, and the clouds, decorating the world with life and water. After it was done, they brought humans and animals into the world, watching in awe as they adapted and began building a town, a town for them to live in. After a while, she decided to gift them with light."_ she took a breath and paused, before continuing.

"_But sadly, the people began to love the light so much, that they began to fight over it. And so, darkness was born in everyone's hearts. It devoured the world and the people, and a being like her was born. He was the Prince of Darkness, a being who carried the darkest desires from the people his darkness devoured. A being who was never a part of Kingdom Hearts to begin with."_

"_The Prince of Darkness is bad! I don't like him!" _my younger self protested as she crossed her arms. My mother laughed as she brushed her bangs back. _"Honey, the prince isn't truly bad. You can't change the way you were born, but you can change who you are. Anyways, the light the princess had given the people had survived, in the hearts of children. With the fragments of light, the children had rebuilt the world. But it wasn't just one world anymore, it was many."_ she explained.

"_Wow, all those worlds were made by kids?" _she nodded.

"_Yes, they were. After the worlds were reborn, the Princess decided to make peace with her counterpart. Since she knew protecting Kingdom Hearts wasn't a one person job, she offered him a chance to protect balance alongside her, and live together with Kingdom Hearts. The Prince swiftly agreed, for he understood the importance of protecting the mighty heart. From that point on, they protected it."_ she explained. The little girl nodded.

"_Next is when they created the keyblades and the big war happened, right, Mama?"_ she asked. The woman nodded.

"_Yes. Some time after the war, the prince grew bored of his duties, and longed to see what life was like outside. So, he threw his immortality away and came here, abandoning Kingdom Hearts as well as his duty. The princess, knowing ill will would come of this, followed after him. But, she could no longer go back, even after finding his human form. And so, from then on, the two have continued to wander the worlds, trying to find a way back home."_ she finished. The girl blinked owlishly at her for a moment, before pulling the covers to her chin.

"_But did they ever go home? Did Kingdom Hearts ever take them back?"_ she questioned. The woman shook her head sadly.

"_No, they are still traveling to this day, trying to find a way back home. But, there is a legend where it's said that the Princess of Light and the Prince of Darkness will one day combine their powers, connecting the worlds that were scattered in a time of danger. Now, I think it's time for you to go to bed." _the little girl nodded as she rested her head against the pillows, her mother leaning over as she smiled tenderly at her.

"_Sweet dreams." _she whispered as she kissed the girl's forehead. The girl smiled and curled up under the blankets, falling asleep quickly as the woman stood, exiting the room. With that, everything became dark.

"_Ah, my darling, you've grown into a beautiful young woman." _Gasping, I turned and spotted the same silver-haired woman standing a few feet away, a blonde-haired man at her side. The two were staring at me lovingly, and I felt my heart tremble.

"_**M…Mama? Papa?" **_I thought as I took a step forward, reaching out to touch her cheek. The woman smiled, reaching out and grabbing my hand so that I landed against her chest. She quickly wrapped her arms around me, holding me in a loving embrace. I looked up at them and the man smiled as well, reaching out and stroking my head.

"_We've missed you so much, our little Kyrie." _the man whispered as he hugged the both of us. Ah…this feeling is so familiar…all of these sensations are so familiar. Their scent, their warmth, the sounds of their voices…I wrapped my arms around them as well, burying my face into her chest as tears began to fall down my cheeks. I felt my shoulders begin to shake as I cried, the two of them stroking my hair soothingly as I did so.

"_Shh…it's all right, we're here…" _my mother whispered. Suddenly, they released me and took a few steps back, with me watching in confusion as they did so.

"_Our time is up. I'm afraid it's time to say goodbye. Don't forget, we love you, and we will always love you." _she whispered tenderly as she and father began to fade away. I gasped, running forward with my hand outstretched.

"_**No, don't go! Please-!" **_I thought. But in seconds they were gone, leaving me alone again.

…

…

"…_Mm?" _Kyrie thought as she slowly regained consciousness. She could feel that she was in a bed, the warm covers draped over her shoulders as she lay there. But…how did she get here?

"_The last thing I remember…was standing at the castle postern and looking at the lights in the sky. Then…that dream…" _she thought as she lay there. She felt a hand on her forehead, and flinched.

"Hey, I think she's coming around!" she heard a familiar voice chirp. Slowly opening her eyes, she blinked for a few moments, before they focused. Leaning over her was Yuffie, as well as Aerith, both women looking down at her worriedly. Immediately, Sora, Donald, and Goofy moved in, standing over her as well.

"Kyrie! You're okay!" Sora exclaimed, a wide grin on his face. The girl smiled a little and slowly sat up, the group backing up a little as they did so. Aerith was quick to place her hands against her shoulders, holding her up in case she fell back.

"How are you feeling? Do you remember what happened?" she asked softly. Kyrie was silent before nodding, looking around for her backpack as she did so. Spotting it beside her, she pulled out her notebook and pen and began to write.

**Sora? Donald? Goofy? Aerith? Yuffie? What happened? How'd I get here?**

"After you passed out and your eye started bleeding, Sora and Goofy carried you back so Merlin could check you over. You really scared us!" Yuffie explained. Kyrie nodded silently before pushing back the covers, eager to get on her feet. The group backed up somewhat and watched apprehensively as she got to her feet.

"Gawrsh, ya sure you should be standin'?" Goofy asked worriedly. The girl smiled and gave the dog a nod. Looking around, she spotted Leon, Cid, and Merlin as they tried to fix Cid's computer. The three men looked over and gave her a small smile.

"Glad that you're back on yer feet. Gave everyone a good scare." Cid called before going back to his work. Kyrie smiled and nodded before Sora grabbed her arm, a smile on his face.

"Hey, you hungry? We should eat before we go, and I'm starving!" the group laughed as Kyrie smiled, shaking her head.

"_Oh, Sora, you never change."_

-Meanwhile-

"Axel, what's up? You look…down." Demyx asked as he and the pyro sat on top of the station tower in Twilight town. The man was silent before shrugging his shoulders, but he wasn't going to let it drop.

"Did something happen with Kyrie? Is that why you're upset?" he asked. Axel sighed in irritation.

"Demyx…I-" he started, but stopped. The man raised an eyebrow at him as he turned, glaring. "Xigbar, quit snooping around. I know you're there." A portal formed from behind the two men, making Demyx jump as Axel got to his feet, summoning his chakrams.

"Wow, you're good. And here I thought nobody would notice me." Xigbar teased as he stepped out of the corridor. Axel growled. "Cut the crap, Xig. Why're you here? To eliminate us?"

"As if. Not today, I'm here on important business." the free shooter replied. Demyx blinked. "Important business? What kind?" for a moment, the older man's face grimaced.

"Xemmy's given the order. Angel's gonna be destroyed, as well as the kid. When they get to Twilight town, they're gonna be ambushed." the two paled at this.

"What, Kyrie's gonna be eliminated? Why?" Demyx exclaimed. Xigbar sighed.

"'Cuz she turned down his offer to rejoin the organization. She said that she'd rather be with you guys and the little hero than with us." he explained. Axel was quiet as he listened, he was glad that she turned down the offer, but now he was concerned for her safety. "So why are you telling us this? Aren't we the enemy?" he asked.

"Well, normally I wouldn't have said anything. But I just don't want the kid to get hurt. Angel's too sweet a kid to deserve something like that." the man answered. Axel nodded as he opened a corridor, waving to them as he walked inside. "Later, dudes!" and with that, he was gone. The two were silent for a moment before Demyx spoke up.

"Ax, what are we gonna do? We can't let Kyrie get hurt!" he exclaimed. Axel was silent as he thought it over, if the small group was going to be ambushed, then there would no doubt be dozens of dusks and other nobodies around. Enough of them to no doubt wear the group down enough so that they could be eliminated. He turned to Demyx.

"I don't know about you, but I'm gonna help Kyrie and Roxas. Even if it costs me my life."

-Back in Radiant Garden-

"You guys be careful, and good luck!" Yuffie called as the group headed off, eager to get to the next world. After discussing their plan over lunch, they decided to go to Twilight town and figure out the mystery of the picture. Roxas's picture.

"_I wish I could tell them about Roxas, but something tells me I should stay quiet for now. I don't know why, but it feels like I __**shouldn't **__tell them." _Kyrie thought as she slipped her backpack onto her shoulders. Sora nodded as he waved.

"All right, we will. See ya!" and with that, he, Donald, and Goofy we off. Kyrie gasped and ran after them, trying to catch up when-

"Oof!" she slammed into something, landing on her behind as she did so.

"_Ow…" _Kyrie thought as she sat on the ground. Looking up to see what she ran into, she spotted an auburn-haired girl sitting on the ground a few feet from her, rubbing her behind as she did so. She was wearing the strangest outfit she had ever seen, and had feathers in her hair and tied to the hilt of her sword. Part of her hair was in a ponytail that flowed over her right shoulder, while the rest was left alone. Bangs framed her face, where she could see small freckles dotting her cheeks. A bit of her hair also stuck out, like a large antenna. The girl growled.

"Ow, hey! What where you're- Oh." the girl started before looking up, sky blue meeting brown as the two girls stared at each other. The two were silent as they stared, Kyrie felt like she knew this girl. But it wasn't like with Kairi, Belle, or Jasmine when they had first met, it was something different. Something deep down inside was trying to tell her something, but what?

"Um…sorry about that. Guess I wasn't looking where I was going. But then again I normally don't look where I'm going so- oh! What's your name, do you live here? Why's your hair so white, do you dye it? Oh, and-" the girl babbled as she held out her hand, helping Kyrie to her feet as she did so. She blinked, not sure why the girl was bothering to ask such weird questions. But a voice calling to her made the two girls jump.

"Kyrie, c'mon!"

"We've gotta go!" and with that, she took off, but not before giving an apology bow for running into her. The auburn-haired girl watched her go, before smiling.

"_Kyrie, huh? I feel like I've met her before. But where?" _

She paused before shaking her head. _"Nah, couldn't have. I don't remember meeting any white-haired girls. Maybe I'm going crazy." _

* * *

><p><strong>Oh gosh, more flashback-dreams. There's some mythology put into this, before you all start complaining. And that's I'm gonna say for today. Please review!<strong>


	67. Where's Kairi?

**We inch ever closer to Axel's demise...but will I kill him off? Or will I allow him to live...**

**Axel:...You're enjoying this, aren't you?**

**Me: You can't tell?**

**Roxas: 0.0; *points* You're evil!**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 67

"Hey! I think we're almost there!" Goofy exclaimed as the four walked through the train station in Twilight town. Sora and Donald turned to him, blinking in confusion.

"Huh?"

"Gawrsh, aren't we here because of the picture? Look, I'll show ya!" he asked as he pulled the photograph from his back pocket. Kyrie nodded as she wrote.

**Yeah, remember guys? We talked about it over lunch, remember?**

The two nodded as they examined the picture. "Yeah! They're right!" Donald agreed. Kyrie and Goofy smiled.

"C'mon, let's go find this mansion!" Goofy beckoned as he began walking ahead, Kyrie tagging along. Sora nodded as he and Donald ran after the two.

"Yeah!"

-Outside the Station-

"Huh? Nobodies?" Sora exclaimed as two Gamblers appeared before them. Kyrie gasped and summoned her keyblades, just barely avoiding a strike as one of them came at her. More seemed to appear, making the group growl as they fought them off.

"_But why are there Nobodies here? Twilight town is normally free of them. Unless…" _her eyes widened. _"We're getting closer to the World that Never Was, and now they're desperate! But how could we get there from here? The only way I know how to get there is through a dark corridor…" _her thoughts continued as she fought. Once they were cleared, the group looked at each other worriedly.

"Gawrsh, I hope everyone's all right." Goofy said gravely. Kyrie nodded, even though she didn't like some of the town's residents, she hoped that everyone was safe and okay. Sora nodded.

"Yeah. C'mon, we've gotta keep going." he urged. Goofy, Donald, and Kyrie nodded as they followed their fearless leader, taking out dozens of nobodies along the way. From Dusks and Creepers to Samurais and Gamblers, you name it, they fought it. Once they got to the forest though, Kyrie stopped. She felt a strange chill go down her spine, and she didn't like it one bit.

"**It's almost time. Your friend's end is very near. What are you willing to do to save him?" **a female voice spoke. Kyrie was silent as her eyes widened, she knew this voice.

"_What? Who's end is near?" _she thought in reply, scared to know the answer.

"**What are you willing to do to save him? Do you love him enough to save him? Would you fulfill your destiny in exchange for his life?" **the voice asked, ignoring her questions. But she shook her head.

"_Who are you talking about? WHO'S end is near? Answer me!" _she demanded. But the voice went silent, making her growl as she punched a nearby tree in frustration. After a moment, she shook her head and ran to catch up with the others.

"_What did she mean? Who's life is going to end?" _she thought as she ran. But those thoughts were quickly erased as they ran into the mansion courtyard, spotting Hayner, Pence, and Olette passed out on the ground. Gasping, Sora and Donald ran over to Hayner while Goofy and Kyrie ran over to Pence and Olette. Dropping by the girl's side, Kyrie eased her up and into her lap, trying to jar the girl awake.

"Hey, are you all right?" Sora asked Hayner as he helped the boy up. The three began to stir, Hayner sitting up as Sora looked him over. "What happened?" Hayner looked up at him before sitting back.

"We came here looking for Kairi. Then those white things attacked us…" he explained. Donald scowled. "Ya gotta be careful!"

"Yeah, you guys didn't have to go and do that." Sora agreed. But Hayner shook his head. At that point, Pence and Olette regained consciousness as well, and looked up at Goofy and Kyrie as the two helped them to their feet.

"Of course we did. Kairi's our friend too, ya know." Hayner snapped. Sora was silent for a moment as he thought it over.

"You're right…you know I never thought of it like that before." Sora explained as both boys got to their feet. Hayner nodded as the three turned to the mansion.

"Word is, this mansion gets a lot of really strange visitors." Hayner explained. Olette nodded.

"We thought this place might be the gateway to some kind of alternate Twilight town." she explained. Kyrie and Sora looked at her and blinked, confused.

"_Alternate Twilight town? Could they be talking about…? …No, they can't be. They wouldn't know about the digital town inside the computers. The one where Roxas…disappeared…" _she thought as she stared at the girl. Sora blinked at her.

"What do you mean, alternate Twilight town?" he asked. Olette was silent for a moment before she, Hayner, and Pence turned to them.

"Hey, Goofy, do you think we can see that crystal of yours?" Pence asked as he pointed to the dog's pockets. He nodded and dug into his pockets before removing a pouch, taking the crystal in one hand and holding the pouch in the other.

"I made that pouch myself, and I still have it. So there shouldn't be two of them here." Olette explained as she brought out her own pouch, showing it to them. Then Hayner walked over and grabbed the trophy, which had been leaned up against the brick wall of the gate.

"And this is the trophy Seifer gave you. You left it behind, remember?" Hayner explained as he held it in his hands. The group nodded as Pence elaborated.

"It's the only one of its kind. Same for the crystals-red, blue, yellow, green-only one of each color. But you've got your own!" he explained.

"So… where'd you get it?" Hayner asked suspiciously. Sora was silent as he thought for a moment. But Goofy answered before he could.

"The pouch is from the King. When he gave us munny for the train ride, he gave us the crystal too." Goofy explained. Pence placed a hand against his chin.

"But then…where did the KING get it?" he asked. Hayner smirked. "See? There's gotta be another town out there like this one. That would explain how the King got that pouch and crystal. Everything makes sense." but the boys and Kyrie looked at each other, confused.

"It…does?" Sora asked. Pence nodded. "The other town must be where whatever's missing from here went!"

"Like Kairi." Olette added. Sora smiled and nodded.

"I get it!" he smiled. But Kyrie was silent before she reached out, grabbing Sora's shoulder. When the boy turned to her, she pulled out her notebook and began to write.

**Guys, I think I know which town you're talking about. See, there's this computer inside the mansion's basement. THAT leads to the other Twilight town. And maybe… Organization XIII's base.**

The group gasped before leaning in.

"So that means you know where it is? Can you lead us to Kairi?" Sora asked. She nodded. But suddenly, out of nowhere, something flew at her and slashed her side, making her gasp in pain as she fell back, collapsing in the grass. They gasped.

"Kyrie!" they cried as she coughed, before they looked to see what had attacked her. It was a dusk as it stood there, before being joined by another. Before either one could attack, a golden keyblade slashed through them, revealing the King as he stood a few feet away.

"Watch out!" he warned. With that, more nobodies showed up, mostly Dusks, Creepers, and Samurais. As Sora, Donald, Goofy, and the King fought them off, Hayner, Pence, and Olette rushed to the wounded girl's side. Kneeling down beside her, Olette looked her over.

"Kyrie, are you okay?" she asked as she looked the girl over. But she shook her head as she breathed heavily, the blood pooling from her wound as she clutched weakly at it.

"_Dammit…it ambushed me." _her thoughts growled. Glancing behind them, her eyes widened when she spotted a few dusks heading their way. She pointed, making them turn and gasp in alarm as they lunged.

"Dance water, dance!" a voice cried, before water geysers erupted from the ground, destroying them instantly. Kyrie smiled weakly.

"_Demyx!" _she thought happily as she stared. Indeed it was the melodious nocturne as he joined in the fray, helping Sora, Donald, Goofy, and the King destroy the nobodies with his water clones and geysers. But once they were all gone, the group turned on him, brandishing their weapons.

"Ah, it's you!" Sora exclaimed as he pointed the keyblade at him. But the man banished his sitar immediately, holding his hands up in defense. "Hold it, hold it! I'm on your side!" he exclaimed. But they narrowed their eyes, they didn't believe him.

"Oh yeah? Prove it!" Donald taunted. Demyx shrank back before pointing to Hayner and the others.

"Hey, I just saved their butts, didn't I?" he asked as he pointed. Sora, Donald, and Goofy looked at each other reluctantly before nodding. "Yeah…" but before another word could be said, Olette gasped.

"Kyrie!" turning their attention to the group, they paled when they spotted the white-haired girl, bleeding onto the grass as she held her wound weakly. Demyx and Donald were the first to go to her aid, each preparing a cure spell as they did so. But the second both of them realized that the other was preparing a spell, they paused and glared at each other, getting into each other's face as they did so.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"No, what do you think YOU'RE doing?"

"I'm going to heal Kyrie!"

"No, I'M going to heal her!"

"No, I'm-"

"Uh, guys?" Olette spoke, making the two glare at her.

"What?"

"Her wound's getting worse." she pointed out. The two stared at each other before grumbling, both using cure to heal her wound. After a few minutes, the girl's wound was healed as Olette helped her to her feet. The group sighed in relief.

"Everyone's okay now." Sora sighed in relief. Kyrie smiled and nodded, before the group turned their attention to Demyx. After a few moments, Sora sighed.

"Okay…I guess we should thank you for helping Kyrie. But that doesn't mean we're going to believe you! You're still apart of the organization!" he said stubbornly, crossing his arms as he and Donald glared at the young man. But Demyx shook his head.

"No, you've gotta believe me! I'm a traitor to the org. now because of what happened back in Hollow Bastion!" he explained. Sora and Donald were silent before Kyrie stepped between them, looking at them pleadingly. She quickly wrote in her notebook before handing it to them.

**It's true, he is considered a traitor now. Please, he doesn't mean any harm. Can't he come along with us? **

"Well…" but she quickly wrote more and handed it back.

**Besides, he knows more about the place we want to go than I do. It'll be a lot easier to find Kairi. C'mon, please?**

The group was silent for a moment, before sighing.

"Oh…okay…" Sora and Donald sighed. Kyrie and Demyx smiled brightly while the King and Goofy laughed, before the King gasped.

"I got somethin' to tell ya. I found out where Ansem is- Ansem the Wise! The real Ansem! He snuck into Organization XIII's stronghold." Kyrie gasped at this while Sora nodded.

"And we've figured out where Kairi is! I'm pretty sure we're right." he explained. The King cocked his head to the side.

"But why'd you all come here?"

* * *

><p><strong>...This doesn't count as a cliffhanger, I don't think. You need suspense for that.<strong>

**And man! That Dusk attacking Kyrie is like something out of a movie. Well, this type of scene happen tons of times in movies, animes, games, ect. You all know what I'm talking about, right? No? Maybe?**

**Ah, screw it. Just review and tell me what you think!**


	68. Impending Doom

**OH GOSH...you guys really don't want me to kill off Axel, don't you?**

**Axel: So you're not?**

**Me: I never said that.**

**Axel:...So you are?**

**Me: I never said that either.**

**Sora: Man, this is confusing!**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 68

"But why'd you all come here?" the King asked as he stared at them.

"Someone gave us a clue." Sora answered. But the King looked even more confused. "Who?"

"Well, your Majesty, Sora thinks it mighta been Riku." Goofy answered. Sora and Donald nodded.

"It's just a feeling I had." he explained. The King nodded in understanding.

"Welp, if that's what ya think, then it's probably right." he spoke mysteriously. Sora grinned, somehow discerning some hidden meaning behind the King's words. "You mean Riku's okay!" the King shuffled his feet uncomfortably.

"If that's what ya think…" Sora narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms, glaring at the King.

"I've waited long enough, your Majesty! Tell me what you know!" he demanded. As this was going on, Hayner, Pence, Olette, Kyrie, and Demyx all looked at each other, confused on what was going on. But the King turned away.

"It's not for me to say."

"But your Majesty! Why?" Sora demanded. The King sighed. "I don't wanna break my promise."

"You made a promise to Riku!" Sora exclaimed, making the King gasp and cover his mouth. "So he's okay! I can see him again!" Hayner, Pence, Olette, and Demyx looked at each other in confusion.

"Huh? Who's Riku?" Hayner asked. Sora grinned as he turned to them.

"My best friend." he answered. Pence nodded. "That's IT!"

"Your Majesty? You got that pouch with the crystal from Riku, didn't you? And you promised not to tell, right?" Olette interrogated. The King blushed and looked away, scratching the back of his head.

"Gosh guys…"

"That's enough!" Donald exclaimed. They sighed and nodded before Sora turned to the gate.

"Yeah. Let's go!" he paused for a moment. "Kairi! Riku! We're on our way!" he mumbled under his breath. With that they started for the mansion, Demyx and Kyrie being the last to follow as Kyrie pulled out her notebook. After writing something, she tugged on his arm and handed him the notebook.

**Demyx, where's Axel? I thought he was with you.**

"Oh, Ax? Well, uh…he's got some stuff to do. He'll catch up with us later." he answered. Kyrie narrowed her eyes but didn't pry. Demyx was lying to her about something, but she didn't know what.

"_But why would he lie to me? What's really going on?" _she thought as she walked. Sora and Goofy quickly opened the doors to the mansion and ushered everyone inside. Once they were inside, they looked around.

"There's gotta be a computer somewhere. There should be a way into the Realm of Darkness there." the King spoke as he looked around. Sora turned to him.

"Riku told you that, didn't he!" he accused. The King looked around uncomfortably.

"Please, Sora. I made a promise." Sora smirked. "Aha! I knew it!"

"Hey! Stop pestering the King!" Donald ordered. Kyrie knew right away where to go, and started walking, leaving the others to stare at her in confusion as she walked up the stairs. Pausing, she waved for them to follow. Following after her, they walked into some sort of study and were surprised that there were stairs. Walking down the stairs, they made their way into the basement.

"Hey, how does she know so much about this place?" she heard Hayner whisper from behind her.

"I don't know. Maybe she's been here before." she heard Olette answer. But the girl rolled her eyes and kept walking, leading them right into the basement computer room. The King smiled.

"There!" he exclaimed as he pointed. Sora smiled. "We found it! Thanks, Kyrie!" Sora exclaimed as he, Donald, Goofy, and the King ran to it. The girl blushed a little and giggled silently, with Demyx ruffling her hair as she did so.

"Yeah, good work!" he added. Then they turned their attention towards the computer.

"How does it work?" Donald asked. The rest of the group shrugged their shoulders.

"I dunno. Maybe we-"

"I can handle it." Pence offered, making Demyx pout as he crossed his arms. Kyrie patted his arm sympathetically as the boy sat at the computer, looking over the screens and keys. "Okay…here we go…ah!"

"What's wrong?"

"I can't go any further without a password." Pence explained. The King cocked his head to the side as he looked at the screen.

"Do ya have any idea what the password might be?" he asked. Sora placed a hand against his chin as he thought about it. After a moment, Goofy pulled out the photograph.

"Well, we only got this photo…"

"And the salty-sweet ice cream bar!" Donald added. Kyrie gasped, she knew what kind of ice cream they were talking about. Sea-Salt ice cream. The ice cream the child in her dreams ate with her grandfather, and the ice cream she, Axel, Roxas, and Xion ate together.

"Yeah, the one Donald ate up." Sora remembered. "It was in the box next to the photo." Goofy explained. The King brightened at this.

"Hey, that's it! Ansem the Wise loved ice cream!" he exclaimed. Pence nodded as he turned to the computer.

"Okay, what's the name of the flavor?" he asked. Before anyone could move, Kyrie was at the computer, using the keys to type in the name of the ice cream. _"I know it's Sea-Salt ice cream. Grandfather always ate them when he appeared in my dreams, so it has to be it." _she thought as she typed.

"Kyrie, what are you-" the computer made a sound as she entered the password, Pence looking over her shoulder as she did so. "It worked!" he exclaimed as a beam came down and hovered in some sort of teleporter. The group blinked at the girl as she stepped away, turning her attention to the beam of light.

"Kyrie…how did you know…?" Sora asked, but the girl shook her head. Now was not the time to be asking questions. The boy nodded in understanding as he, Kyrie, Donald, Goofy, and the King stood in front of the beam. Demyx quickly joined them, earning confused looks before Sora turned to them.

"Let's go!"

"We'll be here to hold down the fort." Hayner assured them. Olette nodded.

"Say hi to Kairi!" she added. They nodded in agreement. "You bet!" Sora assured them. With that, they got into the teleporter and disappeared.

-Digital Twilight town, Computer room-

"Are we back in the same place?" Sora asked as they stepped out, seemingly to appear in the same room.

"I don't think so. It wouldn't make any sense if we did." Demyx pointed out. Looking around, they noticed that the computer was destroyed, completely different from the other Twilight town. Sora was quiet for a moment.

"This is the other Twilight town. Roxas's Twilight town." he murmured. Kyrie was silent as she stared at the destroyed computer. She could clearly see Roxas as he slammed his keyblade into the screens and keys, destroying it in a fit of rage.

"_Roxas…"_

"There's gotta be an entrance into the dark realm somewhere. Let's split up." the King spoke calmly as he looked around. With that, he ran into the other room, the other's running after him as he did so. When they got into the next room, they spotted a multi-colored orb with a dark outline in the corner of the room. "There."

"This is it." the King added as he walked into it. Looking back at each other, the others nodded and stepped through as well, following him. The group stepped into the realm of Betwixt and Between, looking around as the nobody insignia covered the walls and floors of the realm.

"What is this place?" Sora asked as he looked around.

"This is Betwixt and Between, this place leads to our world." Demyx explained. They turned to him and nodded.

"Well, which way should we go?" Donald asked. Demyx was quiet for a moment, before pointing a head of them.

"I think you keep going straight. Sooner or later, we'll reach the Dark city. And from there, we can go to the castle." he answered. Sora, Donald, and Goofy deadpanned before sighing, making Kyrie giggle silently. But Sora turned his attention ahead of him as he ran forward a few steps.

"Riku! Kairi!" he called desperately. But his voice only reverberated, disheartening him when no one called back. Kyrie placed a sympathetic hand on his shoulder, when suddenly, dozens of dusks and assassins appeared, surrounding them.

"Ah! An ambush!" Demyx exclaimed as he summoned his sitar. Kyrie growled and nodded as she summoned her keyblades, Sora and the others summoning their weapons as well.

"_I guess Xemnas is trying to take us out with numbers. This isn't going to be easy." _Kyrie thought as she rushed in, upper-cutting a dusk before it could strike. With that the fight began, with the group trying to take out the nobodies as they swarmed. But the more they fought, the more seemed to show up. Sora growled as he jumped back, regrouping with the others as the swarm surrounded them.

"It's no use!" Sora exclaimed. But a voice called out to them, making Kyrie gasp.

"Don't stop moving, or the darkness will overtake you!"

"_Axel!" _Kyrie rejoiced as said pyro appeared, taking out a few dusks with his chakrams. He looked at them. "Get goin'!" he ordered. But Sora looked at him in confusion.

"Why?"

"Don't ask. Just do it!" he ordered. But a dusk ambushed him, knocking him to the ground. Kyrie gasped as she, Demyx, and Sora ran in, knocking the dusks away from the fallen man as Kyrie tried to help him to his feet.

"Are you okay?" Sora asked worriedly. The man shook his head in aggravation.

"I kidnapped Kairi, but she got away from me. After that, Saix caught her. He's a member of Organization XIII. Saix. Got it memorized? Now go save her!" he explained. Kyrie looked at him worriedly as she tried to support him, when a dusk appeared from behind Sora. The boy turned, cutting it down before looking back at the couple.

"Leave us alone!" he cried as the two got to their feet. Axel quickly summoned his chakrams while Kyrie summoned her keyblades, the group working together as they fought off the horde of nobodies. Axel and Kyrie mostly stuck together, and the two tag-teamed on every dusk and assassin that was dumb enough to come their way.

"Kyrie, here comes one!" Axel cried as he sent an assassin right at her. She nodded and jumped, using both keyblades to split it in half as it dissipated.

"Dance water, dance!" Demyx cried as he assisted Donald and Goofy, who were having a hard time because the dusks were slippery and unpredictable, unlike the heartless. But the dusks and assassins kept coming, cornering Sora, Kyrie and Axel as they stood back-to-back.

"I think I liked it better when they were on my side." Axel joked as he looked back at the two. Sora smirked as he looked at the man.

"Feeling a little…regret?" he asked snidely. Axle chuckled softly.

"Nah…I can handle these punks. Watch this!" with that he jumped, Demyx turning to them as his eyes widened.

"No, Axel! Don't do it, you're-"

* * *

><p><strong>DUN DUN DUN~~! The dreaded moment has arrived, will Axel fade, or will Kyrie be able to save him? And will Sora stop being so naive? Well-<strong>

**Sora: Hey! I am not naive!**

**Me: ...Stay tuned to find out! And please, review!**


	69. Don't Leave Me

**Okay wonderful fans, the time has come! Prepare yourselves for whatever happens in this life-changing chapter of sadness and joy! ...Or just sadness. Tee hee, sorry. I love teasing people.**

**That, and I was going to submit it tomorrow, since it's 12:00 am where I live, but I have a boatload of crap to get done tomorrow so...count yourselves lucky.**

**Anyways, I recommend listening to some sad songs while reading this chapter. Helps with the mood. I suggest "Koe" by Tsukiko Amano, "Chou" by Tsukiko Amano, and "Kanashimi no Mukou e" from the game School Days. Or you can listen to "My Immortal" by Evanescene and a couple of other sad songs.**

**Well, enough with the chit-chat. On with the chapter!**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom hearts (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 69

"No, Axel! Don't do it, you're-" Demyx exclaimed as the man started gathering fire around his body. With a cry, the fire consumed the nobodies, wrapping around the group as it did so. Kyrie felt her heart stop, the warmth of the fire was weak. Axel's fire has never felt as lukewarm as it did now, never. Instinct told her that something horrible has just happened. Once the fire had died out, the group looked around.

"Whoa!" Sora exclaimed as they looked around, not a dusk to be seen. But Kyrie was focused on something else as she turned, her eyes widening.

"_Oh no…Axel!" _her thoughts screamed as she ran to his side, realizing that her nightmare was coming true. Axel was beginning to fade away. The group turned and spotted the fading pyro, their eyes widening.

"Oh no…Ax!" Demyx exclaimed as he, Sora, Donald, and Goofy ran over, joining Kyrie as she knelt over the man. "You're…fading away…"

"Well, that's what happens when you put your whole being into an attack. You know what I mean?" the man spoke weakly as he looked over to Sora and Kyrie. The girl was on the verge of breaking down as she clasped his hand, holding it tightly.

"Not that nobodies actually HAVE beings…right? Anyway, I digress. Go, find Kairi. Oh, almost forgot. Sorry for what I did to her." Axel babbled weakly as he stared at Sora. The boy shook his head, as well as Kyrie.

"_No, Axel! Please, don't fade!" _she thought as her shoulders shook.

"When we find her, you can tell her that yourself." Sora protested. But Axel shook his head. "Think I'll pass. My heart just wouldn't be in it, you know? Haven't got one." he gave a soft chuckle. Sora looked at the man, one question lingering on his mind.

"Axel, what were you trying to do?"

"I wanted to see Roxas. He…was the only one I liked…he made me feel…like I had a heart. He, Kyrie, and I…we were like a trio. I wanted the gang together again… just like the good ol' times." he looked over at Kyrie, holding her hand as he stared at her tear-filled eyes.

"Kyrie, I'm sorry…that I couldn't keep my promise. It's kinda funny, you and Roxas were the only friends I had in the Org. You both…made me feel like I had a heart. He did in one way, and you did in another." he spoke morosely as he stared at her. She blinked as he reached up and cupped her cheek.

"I've been wanting to ask you something for a long time, and now…it's too late to do it. I wanted to ask you to be my girlfriend, because…" he paused and gave a shaky breath before continuing. "Because…you make me feel… strange. When I'm with you… everything is brighter, happier. Like I can feel again. Roxas was my best friend, but you… were so much more." he explained, making her choke back a sob as the tears slipped down her cheeks. He looked over her shoulder.

"Demyx."

"Uh, yes?"

"Take care of her for me. Since I'm… not gonna be around anymore." Axel ordered. The melodious nocturne nodded somberly as he placed a hand on the crying girl's shoulder. Kyrie felt like her heart was shattering as she held his hand, Axel's confession affecting her greatly.

"_Axel… all this time, you… cared about me? I… feel the same way. But how… can I tell you? I have to tell you…" _she thought as she sobbed silently. Sora looked at her sadly, he hated seeing girls cry. But Kyrie was like a big sister to him, and after hearing Axel's words to her, he just now realized how strong the bond between them was. It was like with him and Kairi.

"Kyrie…" But a sudden sound made them all pause.

"A… Ax… Ax… el…" everyone gasped in surprise and turned to Kyrie as she held his hand tightly, crying as she did so. She had just spoke!

"K-Kyrie, you-"

"Ax… el… p-pl… ease… d-don't… l-leave… m… me." the girl spoke softly as she sobbed. Her voice was soft like a little bell, despite her broken speech pattern. Axel blinked in confusion as she stared down at him, tears falling from her eyes.

"Y-you… w-were al… always t-there… for me. Y-you… made me… hap… py. E-every… day t-that w-we… w-were t-together… I c-cherished them. T-the happy t-times… t-the s-sad times…" she paused, coughing as she tried to force the words out. Everyone was speechless as they stared at her, surprised and in awe as she spoke for the first time.

"A… as l-long as w-we were… t-together, I d-didn't… c-care w-what…happened." she stammered as she continued. He looked at her sadly.

"Kyrie…"

"Axel… y-you're… t-the most im… important p-person in…my life. I…I l-love you." she cried. Everyone was silent as she cried, not daring to say a word. Axel stared at the white-haired girl in shock, she _loved_ him? She felt the same way?

"_She loves me… she felt the same way all along. Man, I'm so stupid…" _he thought as he watched her try to wipe away her tears with one hand, the other still holding his hand tightly.

"_How can I save him? I don't want him to disappear." _she thought as she wiped away her tears. Looking down at him, she realized she didn't have time left, for he was fading away rapidly. Axel stared back at her, moving his hand so that it was in her hair, and pulled her closer. Slowly closing her eyes, she gently pressed her lips against his. Immediately, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Demyx blushed, looking away to give them privacy.

"_Axel…I love you. I'll always love you." _she thought as she kissed him, her cheeks burning from the massive blush that dusted her cheeks. But a voice echoed in her thoughts. It was the genderless, disembodied voice.

"**You care much for him… very well. I understand. In order to save him, you must promise to fulfill your destiny when the time is right. Are you willing to do this?"**

"_Yes…please. Anything. Just don't let the darkness take him away from me." _Suddenly, the two were engulfed in a flash of light, blinding everyone as they took a few steps back. Kyrie felt an overwhelming feeling take over her body, like someone else's feelings were breaking through. They were sweet, but so full of melancholy as they wrapped around her, like a blanket. It was more bittersweet than anything else.

"**I lost my dearest once upon a time, and it broke my heart. Now, I'll give you the power to save yours, so what happened to me doesn't happen to you." **another voice spoke. Kyrie opened her eyes and found herself surrounded by white light. Standing a few feet away from her, was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. The woman had long, trailing white hair that framed her face and was dressed in elegant robes, a silver yukata with white vine-like designs trailing up and down it. Her eyes were a bright silver as she stared at her.

"_Who…are you?" _she thought as she stared at the woman. But the woman smiled at her tenderly, almost motherly. For a split second, it reminded her of the smile her mother smiled in her dreams.

"**You know me, and I know you. You are a part of me, and I am a part of you. We are one in the same, yet different. Try to remember, remember who you are. And fulfill our destiny." **and with that, the woman disappeared, the light fading away as she did so. Kyrie closed her eyes tightly, feeling a throb inside her head. After a few moments, she heard gasps from behind her.

"No way…"

"Axel!" opening her eyes, she looked down and was surprised to see that the pyro was no longer fading away, but remained in a physical form as he lay there. She gasped and covered her mouth with her hands, tears beginning to form at the corner of her eyes. But they weren't tears of sorrow, they were tears of joy.

He looked up at her, blinking in confusion before looking down at his chest. Placing a hand where his heart should be, he jumped and sat up quickly, startling them. "No way…"

"Axel?" Demyx asked as they stared at him. He looked at them, his eyes wide.

"You're not gonna believe this…but I… have a heart." he choked. So many feelings were welling inside of him, and struck him like a wave. Happiness, anger, sorrow, all of those feelings were coming back to him, like a tsunami. Or better yet, a firestorm. But when he looked at Kyrie, a feeling stood out among the others. A feeling that he had felt as a shadow, a fragment, whenever he looked at her. Back when he had no heart, that is.

"WHAT?" everyone exclaimed as they stared at him in shock. Axel turned to Kyrie and grasped her hand, moving it so that it was placed on his chest. "Kyrie, keep your hand still for a minute." he ordered. The girl nodded, her face bright red as she held her hand over his chest. An urgent thrumming beneath her hand startled her, and she gasped, looking at him. He nodded, smirking at her as he watched her eyes widen.

"Whatever you did… gave me a heart!" he exclaimed. But he was quickly cut off when she tackled him, the two falling onto the ground as she hugged him tightly. He was about to scold her for being reckless, but he stopped, seeing her burying her face against his chest as she smiled; tears falling down her cheeks. The feeling he, to an extent, felt as a nobody began to well up inside his chest even more, and he found himself wrapping his arms around her as he held her close.

"I… I'm so… hap…py. Y-you're… okay." he heard her whimper as she clung to him. He smiled a little as he looked down at her.

"I'm happy too, Kyrie. I'm happy too…" he whispered. Pulling away, he gave her a soft peck on the lips, making her blush brightly as the two got to their feet. Sora smiled as he, Donald, Goofy, and Demyx stared at her.

"Kyrie, you spoke! You can talk now!" Sora rejoiced. She smiled.

"Y-yes-" she started, but stopped as she began to cough, realizing now just how sore her throat was. Axel looked at her in concern.

"Kyrie, you okay?" he asked worriedly as the coughing continued. After a few moments, her coughs died down as she turned to them, giving them a small smile. Demyx looked at Axel.

"Maybe her throat's sore. I mean, she's never spoke in who-knows how long. Let's give her voice a break for awhile. At least, until she's used to using it." he suggested. Everyone nodded in agreement as Axel turned to them, smirking.

"Well, now that the drama is over, let's go and find Kairi. Shall we?" he joked as he opened a portal. The gang nodded and ran through, but before Kyrie could follow, Axel grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him. Turning to him, she raised an eyebrow. He looked down at her with a unreadable expression on his face, before he raised his hand and cupped her cheek.

"Kyrie… everything that you said back there… was it all true?" he asked softly. She stared at him tenderly, a small smile on her face. Reaching up, she gently placed a hand on his shoulder, the highest point where she could reach.

"Y-yes… Axel. E-everything I s-said… was t-true. I… I love y-you." she repeated. He smirked down at her and scooped her into his arms, slamming his lips against hers as he did so. She blushed brightly at the contact, but slowly closed her eyes as she relaxed against him. Axel smirked into the kiss.

"_This feeling… it feels like my whole body is on fire. I want her, but I also want to protect her. I want to see her happy and be with her all the time, and it hurts when she's far away. I don't want this feeling to end, it makes me feel so…alive. I think… this is what love feels like." _his eyes slowly closed shut as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He cared about this girl more than anything, even when he didn't have a heart. But now that he does have a heart, his feelings were more true and sincere, as well as definite.

"_I love her. I love her so much." _he thought as he tightened his hold on her. This time, instead of just pressing their lips together, Axel decided to take it a step further as his tongue slid against her lower lip, making her gasp. She had no idea what to do, this was her first _real_ kiss, and she had never kissed anyone before. At least, not that she could remember.

Poking her in the side, she gasped as his tongue darted into her mouth, making the kiss more passionate as he memorized every inch of her mouth. He smirked at her innocence as she shyly kissed him back. _"Mm…sugar." _

After a minute or two, he pulled away, the two panting heavily as he held her in his arms, her feet dangling a few inches from the ground because of the significant height differences between them. He pressed his forehead against hers, staring at her flushed cheeks as she panted. He grinned at her, twirling a lock or her hair around his finger playfully as he stared at her.

"I…love you, too." staring back at him, she felt her heart flutter as he moved one of his arms, cupping her cheek with his hand. She smiled at him and held him close, her heart beating wildly in joy. _"He feels the same way…I'm…so happy."_

After a few minutes, he lowered her to the ground, taking her hand as he did so. "Shall we?" he asked, smirking. She smiled and nodded, the two holding hands as they exited the realm together.

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><p><strong>And there you have it. Axel lives and Kyrie can finally talk. So you guys can all stuff the questions about when she was going to talk. NEVER DOUBT THE AUTHOR! *grabs a rolled-up newspaper and starts hitting fans with it* Bad!<strong>

**I WAS going to kill off Axel in the beginning, but I hesitated. During this hesitation period, the trailer for Kingdom Hearts 3D came out. That changed my mind quickly. I mean, really? LEA LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE AXEL NOW! WHAT THE HELL?**

**Lea: So? What's the problem with that?**

**Me: The problem is that now I can't tell the two of you apart unless I look under your eyes. THAT'S the problem, buster! Why couldn't they change your hair a little, like keep it the way you had it in BBS? Are they TRYING to piss us off by having you look exactly like Axel? (I don't know about you guys, but it annoys me imensely)**

**Axel: ...Well, whatever. I finally got to kiss Kyrie, WHOO! And a make-out session was a bonus!**

**Kyrie: *blushes* A-Axel...**

**Lea: Nice job, man. Got it memorized?**

**Axel: Thanks. Got it memorized?**

**Kyrie: 0.0;; Um... *looks between them in confusion***

**Me: Holy crap! Breaking of the 4th wall!**

**Roxas: ...Um...just review. Ignore these guys.**


	70. The World that Never Was

**Okay, someone made a very good point in their review last chapter. In all, my "Souls" series has about 100 chapters (this being the 100th) and it wasn't until the 99th chapter that they finally kissed. **

**This goes to show how much I love teasing the audience. XD**

**Anyways, on with the story!**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts (c) Square Enix**

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><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 70

"Jeez, what took you guys so long?" Demyx griped as Axel and Kyrie exited the portal, hand-in-hand. The girl blushed brightly and looked away, while Axel was grinning from ear-to-ear. The melodious nocturne eyed this, and held up his hands.

"Forget it, I don't wanna know. C'mon, the King and the others are just ahead." he explained. The two nodded and followed after him, meeting up with the King, Sora, Donald, and Goofy as they stood at the entrance of an alley, staring at Kingdom Hearts as it shown down on them. Kyrie felt something inside her cry out at the heart-shaped moon, like something inside her was trying to break free.

"So Axel, where're they keeping Kairi?" Sora asked the man. Axel was silent for a moment, before answering.

"They're keeping her in the castle dungeon. Normally, I'd open a dark corridor for you guys, but that'll be taking a huge risk. Especially if we opened it right in the castle, we'd be ambushed again." Axel explained. King Mickey nodded as he looked at the heart-shaped moon, clenching his fists.

"Then we better find a way to get to that castle!" he exclaimed as he began walking ahead. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Demyx followed right after him, with Axel and Kyrie trailing behind. But something hitting the ground caught the girl's attention as she turned, spotting her Wayfinder laying on the concrete.

"Ah…!" she gasped as she ran back for it. Picking it up, she quickly brushed the dirt off of it, sighing in relief when she didn't see a scratch on it. _"Thank goodness… it's not damaged. I guess it must've fell out of my pocket." _she thought as she stared at her reflection in the white-stained glass. But a shadow reflected in the reflection behind hers made her blink. At first it was dark, but when she spotted a flash of blue, she turned.

A sudden scream echoed throughout the streets, making the boys turn and gasp. The girl struggled as Saix held her in a vise-like grip, his claymore in front of her as he pointed it at her throat.

"Kyrie!" Sora cried as he summoned his keyblade. Axel growled as he summoned his chakrams, his new heart hammering away inside his chest as the adrenaline rushed through him. "Let her go, Saix!"

"I'm afraid not, Axel. Xemnas still requires her if we want-" Saix started, but stopped when Kyrie sank her teeth into his hand, causing him to cry out as he released his hold on her. But before she could run, he slammed his claymore into her side, slamming her against the wall. Axel's eyes widened as he watched her slump to the ground, before lying there motionlessly.

"Kyrie!" he cried as he tried to go to her aid, but Saix aimed his claymore at her exposed throat, making the man stop as he glared at his ex. best friend hatefully. "You bastard…"

"Make another move, and I end her. Pity though, if only you had stayed with us, Axel… you could've gotten a heart like you wanted. Instead, you betrayed us for someone who doesn't exist anymore, and this girl." Saix spoke as he stared stoically at the group. Axel's eyes narrowed before Donald spoke up.

"But he already has a heart!" he pointed out. Axel turned to silence him, before Demyx spoke as well. "Yeah, Kyrie gave it to him."

"Guys, shut-!" Axel exclaimed as he stared at them, eyes wide. But it was too late, Saix had heard everything. He stared at the pyro, for the first time a shocked expression gracing his features. "You… have a heart?" the man asked, his expression quickly changing to what looked like anger.

"…" Axel simply looked away, his expression grim. After a few moments, Saix growled, glaring at the unconscious girl.

"So this wench was able to gift you with a heart, while the rest of us remain heartless? Ungrateful ingrate." he growled as he grabbed her from around the waist, holding her at his side. "Nevertheless, the Superior still needs her. And maybe, we can use her to get our hearts, one way or the other."

"Drop her, Saix!" Axel roared as he ran at them, chakrams aimed. At this, Kyrie stirred, looking up and watching as Axel ran at them through her blurred vision. But Saix and the girl were quickly disappearing as a dark corridor swallowed them up.

Looking at the charm in her palm, Kyrie looked up again and held her hand out, reaching out to him. Dropping one of his chakrams, Axel grasped her hand, the Wayfinder between their palms. But the girl disappeared, leaving the Wayfinder in his hand. He stared at the star-shaped charm in his hand, before looking around desperately.

"Kyrie!" he cried, the feeling of panic swelling inside his chest as he looked around. But the feeling of anger quickly overtook him, as he punched the wall of a nearby building, before leaning his head against his arm. The rest of the group stared at him.

"Axel…"

"Why couldn't you idiots keep your mouths shut? Now that they know that I have a heart, they're gonna try and get Kyrie to give them hearts, too. They're going to hurt her!" Axel growled, keeping his head leaned against his arm that rested against the wall. Everyone was silent before Sora approached, placing a hand on the man's shoulder.

"Hey, don't worry. We're gonna get her back, same with Kairi. So c'mon, let's go!" he encouraged. Axel was silent for a few minutes before nodding, and the group began their trek through the Dark City.

"_Kyrie…"_

-Meanwhile, Kairi-

Kairi gave a soft sigh as she sat on the floor in her prison, her heard resting against her arm. Pluto walked over and nudged her a little, making the girl smile as she patted his head. But his ear suddenly shot up, making her look up and get to her feet as she approached the bars of her cell. But before she could reach them, a familiar figure was thrown in, the door slamming shut behind her. Pluto barked loudly and Kairi's eyes widened when she recognized the figure.

"Kyrie!" she exclaimed as she knelt down, helping the fallen girl to a sitting position.

"Hmph. It seems that you two know each other. This is working in our favor." Saix spoke as he stared at the two girls. Kairi glared back at him.

"What are you going to do with us?" she demanded as Kyrie looked back, also glaring at the man. But he ignored her question and walked away, making her huff before she looked as the white-haired girl sitting next to her.

"Kyrie, are you okay?" she asked. The girl nodded and looked at her, surprised by how much she had changed since the last time they saw each other. She smiled.

"Kairi…" the girl's eyes widened as she stared at her. "K-Kyrie? Y-you spoke!" she exclaimed. She nodded and the two girls embraced, glad to see each other after so long. Pluto began barking as he tried to lick Kyrie's face, making the two girls laugh as they began to pet and stroke his head and ears. After a minute or two, the laughter died down as the two girls looked at each other.

"How did you get here? Did that man capture you?" she asked. Kyrie nodded.

"Y-yes…he did. I-I w-was… with S-Sora w-when he… showed up." she explained. Kairi's eyes widened at this. "Sora's here?"

"Yes. Sora's…here. H-He's c-coming… r-right now. H-He's… looking for… you. He, D-Donald, Goofy, D-Demyx, the King, a-and…Axel…" she answered. Kairi looked down at her hands for a moment before gasping, looking at the girl in front of her.

"Oh! Kyrie… I don't know if Axel told you, but there's something I need to tell you." she spoke, her voice serious. The girl nodded as she placed her hands in her lap, waiting patiently for Kairi to continue. She had no idea what she had told Axel, but decided to brush it off for now and listen.

"Well… remember when we first met on the Destiny Islands? When I said that you looked familiar?" Kyrie nodded, remembering the events clearly.

"Well, after I thought it over for a while, it all suddenly came back to me. I suddenly remembered everything, including you." she explained. Kyrie blinked, her heart skipping a beat. So her dreams were right, she and Kairi had been friends all those years ago.

"I remembered that we were friends, and that we played together all the time. You were like a big sister to me, and you were always there for me whenever I needed help. At first, I felt really bad that I had forgotten all about you. But then I realized, even if you may not remember, that doesn't change anything. We're still friends, no matter what." she finished. Kyrie stared at her silently for a few minutes, before hugging her. Kairi blinked at her, but smiled as she returned the hug.

"Y-yeah… n-no matter what… w-we'll always b-be… friends."

-Back with Sora and Company-

"Axel, wait! Slow down!" Demyx called as he, Axel, and the King ran through the Dark City. The man slowed to a stop, looking back at the two as they caught up.

"Demyx, we don't have time to- hey, where's Sora?" looking behind them, Demyx and the King shrugged their shoulders, making the red-haired man sigh as he face-palmed.

"Great…we lost them! Might as well wait until they catch up…"

"It's not like we could've gone any further. We're here." Demyx pointed out as they turned, realizing that they were at the crevice that separated the castle from the city. Axel nodded as he leaned against the wall, crossing his arms as he waited for them to catch up. But he was feeling antsy, he had no idea what Kyrie was going through at the moment, and was worried. Every worse scenario possible was running through his head as he thought of what could be happening to the girl at this very moment.

"_Kyrie… just hang in there. I'm coming, don't worry." _he thought as he tapped his foot, his hands tucked tightly into his arms as he tried to remain calm. After a few minutes, they spotted Sora, Donald, and Goofy as they caught up to them.

"Dead end?" Sora asked as they looked over the gorge that separated the castle and the city. Axel nodded.

"Looks like." he answered. King Mickey clenched his fists as he looked around.

"There's gotta be a path somewhere."

-Back to Kyrie, Kairi-

The two girls looked up when they heard the sound of a door opening and closing and got to their feet, approaching their cell and grabbing the bars as they glared at Saix.

"What are you going to do with us?" Kairi demanded as the two girls glared at him. The man looked at them stoically before answering her question.

"You're the fire that feeds Sora's anger. And as for you, girl," he looked at Kyrie, who was glaring at him with disdain. "You're going to help us achieve our goal, as well as take down that arrogant Axel." and with that, he walked away. Kyrie growled as she watched him go, there was no way that she was going to help them achieve their goal.

"No…Sora's in danger because of me…" Kairi murmured sadly as she stared at the floor. Kyrie looked at her friend sadly before the sound of a dark corridor opening caught her attention. She turned, gasping in surprise when she spotted Namine standing in a dark corridor, holding her hand out to them.

"This way!" she whispered urgently. Kyrie nodded and took a step forward, before stopping. Kairi wasn't moving, as she stared at the girl suspiciously.

"Who-?"

"Believe in yourself. C'mon, hurry!" she urged. Kairi nodded and took a few steps forward, before reaching out and taking Namine's hand. Suddenly, a flash of light resonated from their hands, making Kyrie blink as she felt a light inside her resonating as well.

"What's-"

-Outside-

"Huh?" Sora exclaimed as a flash of light shone from the bottom of the castle. His keyblade appeared in his hand instantly, making the boy look down at it in confusion. The others stared at the blade as well, before Axel put two and two together.

"Sora, use the keyblade. I think that's our ticket to getting in!" Axel ordered as he stared at the blade. Sora nodded as he lifted his blade, a beam of light shooting out and hitting the light. A sea-green colored path appeared before them, leading into the castle. He looked at the path in front of him, a look of determination crossing his features.

"Kairi…Kyrie… we're almost there."

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><p><strong>I just realized this but...Kyrie has a history of biting people. Banzai's tail, Xaldin's arm, and now Saix's hand.<strong>

**Kyrie: ...Y-yes...I do...**

**Axel: Oh yeah, author chick, wasn't there something important you wanted to say?**

**Me: Huh? Something important? Hm...what could it be...?**

**Demyx: *pulls out cue card* Oh, I know! *turns to the audience* The other day one of K-chan's friends asked a very good question on the story and she just wanted to lay down the rules right now. She said she wasn't going to write any LEMONS for the "Souls" series. **

**Me: Oh yeah... and to continue on that note, yes, I have written a lemon or two for my BLEACH stories, but that's something completely different. Kingdom Hearts has disney, and I won't taint it with perverted scenes like that. That...and I actually had someone help me writing the lemon because...er...*blushes* I'm not a...well, you get the picture.**

**Axel: *wraps arm around Kyrie's shoulders* Buuuuuuut~ if YOU guys wanna write a little lemon for me and Kyrie here, go right ahead. K-chan won't mind as long as you say that Kyrie belongs to her. *winks***

**Kyrie: ? L-lemon...? *blank face of confusion and innocence***

**Me: That's right. Anyways, enjoy! And please review, and thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far because now this story has over 399 reviews!**


	71. Freeshooting

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts (c) Square Enix**

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><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 71

The group of six were quiet as they snuck into Nothing's Call, looking for any sign or Kairi or Kyrie.

"Kairi! Where are you?" Sora called loudly. Instantly, Axel clamped his hand over the boy's mouth as the King shushed him.

"Shhh! Remember where we are! This is their stronghold."

"Yeah, dummy. You want us to get caught? Ya gotta be quiet. Q-U-I-E-T. Got it memorized?" Axel hissed as he removed his hand from the boy's mouth. Suddenly though, the King took off, leaving the others behind.

"Wait! Your Majesty!" Donald cried as he took off, Demyx face-palming as he turned to shush the duck. "Guys, keep it down! We'll get caught if-" a sudden sound stopped him, making the five back up as they summoned their weapons.

"Be careful! I think we got company!" Goofy warned. The others nodded as they summoned their weapons, just as a few dusks and sorcerers appeared. Axel swore as he rushed in, throwing his chakrams and reverting the nobodies to ash.

"_Don't worry Kyrie, I'll be there soon."_

-Meanwhile-

Kyrie, Kairi, and Namine ran down Naught's Approach as they tried to make their way out of the castle, holding hands as they did so. The dog, Pluto, ran behind them as they ran, trailing after them. Suddenly, the air around Namine began to distort, causing the three to stop as Kyrie and Kairi looked at her. But before they could say anything, a dark corridor appeared about ten feet away, Saix stepping out of it as two of his berserkers joined him.

"Namine… there you are." Saix spoke as he stared at the blonde. Kairi blinked before looking at her. "Namine…?"

"Kairi. I'm afraid leaving is not an option. I'll take you to see Sora." the man continued as he held his hand out. But she stepped back, Kyrie getting in front of her as she summoned her keyblades. "You don't want that?"

"I do. More than anything. But not with you around." Kairi answered as she and Namine got into a fighting position. Saix smirked as he glared at the three women, only one being a threat to him at the moment. But he could deal with the threat easily, since he had two of his underlings with him.

"If I had a heart, this would be where I die of laughter." he mocked. Kyrie growled, glaring at him.

"You… say that… n-now, Saix. B-but I wonder…w-would you truly… a-act as such, if… you h-had a h-heart?" the girl snapped as she gripped her keyblades tightly, standing protectively in front of her two companions. He narrowed his eyes at her.

"I see that you can talk, now. Which means that you will answer me when I ask how you were able to gift Axel with a heart. So, how did you do it?" he asked as he stared at the girl. She snorted. "L-like I'd…tell you."

"I see. Then I have no choice then." suddenly, something slashed through the berserkers at his sides and he turned, to see a cloaked figure that wielded an odd-looking keyblade. He growled. "You… didn't Roxas take care of you?"

"You can take it from here, Riku." Namine spoke as she took a step back, causing the two girls too stare at her in surprise.

"Riku!" Kairi exclaimed. Kyrie stared at Namine with wide eyes, before looking at the cloaked figure. She was sure that this was the man who had tried to kidnap her on a few occasions, and both her and Sora's suspicions were confirmed. This man WAS Riku.

"_But if he is Riku… then why-" _Kyrie thought as she stared, but her thoughts were cut off as the man ran at Saix, grabbing him by the shoulders and pinning him against the wall. But Saix was crafty as he opened a dark corridor behind him, slipping out of the man's hold as it consumed him. But before he could follow, Kairi and Pluto approached him.

"Wait!" she exclaimed, Pluto growling as he forced the man away from the corridor. The man stared at her, his face hidden from view as she approached. "Riku…you're really here…" she spoke as she grabbed his hood, lowering it. But Kyrie gasped, this man looked like Xemnas! Which meant...

"X-Xehanort!" she exclaimed as she moved, placing herself between the man and Kairi, pointing her keyblades at his chest as she did so. The man stared at the two girls stoically, before turning his attention to Kairi.

"Kairi…" he spoke, making the girl gasp. "Riku! It is you!" she exclaimed as she moved, grabbing his hand as she stared at him in both relief and joy. Kyrie blinked at the two in confusion, she had no idea what was going on, but Kairi seemed to trust the man. Riku turned to her, looking her over.

"You're the girl DiZ was after…I'm sorry."

-Back to Sora-

"How much further is the dungeon?" Sora panted as he rested against the railing of Twilight's View. Demyx shrugged his shoulders as he and Axel leaned against the railings as well, the group taking this rare opportunity to rest.

"We shouldn't have much farther to go." He answered as he panted. Axel nodded before reaching into his pocket, pulling out the Wayfinder that Kyrie had placed in his palm as she was swept away into the darkness. He could clearly see his reflection through the white glass, from the red hair to his purple tear-shaped marks under his eyes. He could also see the emotion reflected through his emerald irises, it was worry. Worry for the girl's safety, worry for his own.

"C'mon, we've gotta keep going." Axel ordered as he pocketed the charm. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Demyx nodded as they continued through Twilight's View.

"So, where does this lead?" Sora asked as they walked.

"This leads to the Hall of Empty Melodies. Once we get there, we can go either up or down. Since we're going to the dungeons, we have to go down once we get to the hall." Demyx explained as he walked beside the boy. Sora nodded.

"And that's where we'll find Kairi and Kyrie?"

"Bingo."

"But why do we hafta go there to go down? Couldn't we have gone down from that, uh… Nobodies Call?" Goofy asked. Donald growled.

"That's Nothing's Call, Goofy!" he snapped. The bipedal dog blinked at his feathered companion before Demyx answered him.

"Not really. You could only go up, since the dungeon's in another part of the castle." he answered. The two nodded as they walked, before spotting a doorway just ahead of them. Giving a burst of speed, Sora ran in, entering the Hall of Empty Melodies.

"Sora…you've done well." a voice called, causing Sora to look up and spot Saix as he stood on a ledge, looking down on him as the others ran to join him. His eyes narrowed further as he spotted Demyx and Axel, the two sharing the same disdain as they stared at him.

"Where's Kairi and Kyrie?" Sora demanded as he glared at the man. But he shrugged, not once moving his eyes away from his ex-members.

"Who knows? I expect she's catching up with her friend from the darkness. As for Kyrie…" he answered, making Axel growl as he clenched his fists tightly.

"What did you do to her, Saix? If you've hurt her, I swear that I'll-"

"I've done nothing of the sort. You should be grateful, we've been treating her quite well." the man retorted. But Axel didn't believe him. Sora, stepping in front of Axel, glared at him.

"What do you mean!" he asked, referring to Kairi. Saix waved an arm at him, sweeping it to the side.

"She doesn't need you anymore." he spoke. Sora snorted as he leaned up.

"I'm supposed to believe that?" he asked, eyebrow raised as he looked at the man mockingly. Saix shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, you don't have to… but you can believe this. Organization XIII has no further use for you… just look there." he pointed, turning their attention on the heart-shaped moon as it shown down on them through the glass windows.

"Our Kingdom Hearts… thanks to you, we've collected countless hearts… can you hear their euphoria? Now, all they need is one more helping from the keyblade bearer!" and with a snap of his fingers, a dozen or so black holes opened, shadows and other types of heartless creeping out as they surrounded the group.

"Damn!" Axel swore as he summoned his chakrams. These heartless were now getting on his nerves.

"We gotta fight!" Donald exclaimed as he and Goofy summoned their weapons. But Sora hesitated. "But- Kingdom Hearts!"

"Sora!"

"Axel!" This caused the two to gasp and look up, to see Kairi and Kyrie as they stared down at them. "Sora! It's really you!" Kairi exclaimed, a smile clear on her face as she stared down at him. Sora gasped.

"Kairi!" he cried. But a shadow cut him off as it jumped, landing on his back as it pinned him to the ground. Axel swore and turned to help the boy, while Kairi and Kyrie gasped.

"You leave Sora alone!" she ordered. With that she turned and ran back, before running and jumping over the ledge, landing on the floor below. Kyrie gasped, looking down at her as the heartless appeared.

"Kairi! Wait!" she cried before following suit, running back before running forward and jumping. But the second she landed, shadows had surrounded Kairi, pinning her to the ground.

"Sora-!" she breathed as the heartless pinned her, before Kyrie rushed in, keyblades drawn.

"H-hang on, Kairi!" she cried as she swept her keyblades to the side. Just as she swept two of the heartless off of the girl, Riku had shown up and destroyed the rest, helping her to her feet. He summoned another keyblade, this one decorated with flowers, and handed it to her.

"Take it." the girl nodded, taking the keyblade as she turned to her opponents.

"This time…I'll fight. You know Sora's completely helpless without us! C'mon Riku, Kyrie!" she cried as she ran in, taking out two heartless. Kyrie nodded and followed after the girl, while Riku turned his attention to the heartless behind them. Saix snorted at the two fighting parties below, before disappearing into the darkness.

-Back to Sora-

"Get off!" Sora grunted as he tried to get the heartless off his back. But a burst of fire knocked the heartless off easily as Axel helped him to his feet, catching his chakram as he did so.

"C'mon, we have to fight!" he ordered as he stood next to the boy, throwing his chakrams and taking out another group of heartless. But Sora was still hesitant as he looked around, watching Donald, Goofy, and Demyx fight off the heartless horde. But when he looked up, he spotted Kairi, Kyrie, and… Xehanort?

"What's going on?" he exclaimed as he stared, his eyes wide. Axel turned to scold the boy before the sound of a gunshot rang out, a light purple dagger-like bullet hit the ground a few feet away, making the boys blink in confusion while Axel and Demyx grimaced. With that, a thousand more shot out, eliminating the heartless they were fighting.

"Xigbar." Axel muttered as he caught his chakrams. The boys looked at him and Demyx in confusion before a corridor opened where Saix had been standing a few minutes prior. The same eye-patched man who they had encountered in the Land of Dragons appeared as he smirked impishly at the group.

"Have you been a good boy?" he asked as he readied his arrow guns. Sora, not able to spot him because of his smaller height, looked around in confusion. "Show yourself!"

"Oh, it sounds like you haven't. Sora! Roxas!" he exclaimed as he took a few steps forward, allowing the group to see him. Sora blinked at him in confusion.

"Roxas? Hey, did he just call me Roxas?" he asked as he turned to Donald, who nodded. Xigbar smirked and shook his head.

"You've really put Organization XIII in a pickle. I guess that must be why the keyblade chose you. But MAN, did it pick a dud this time. You don't look like you're half the hero the others were. And as for you two," he looked at Axel and Demyx. "You've got some nerve showin' up, going against the organization like this." Axel smirked.

"Guess we're really causing some damage, eh, Xig?" he taunted. But Xigbar's smirk seemed to grow as he stared down at them. Sora, rolling his eyes at the two, looked at the man.

"Are you done rambling?" Xigbar snorted at this.

"Rambling? As if! All I'm trying to tell you, traitors, is that your time is up!" he scowled. Immediately he jumped, the group getting into their fighting positions as he did so. "Here he comes!" Goofy exclaimed.

"No duh! Sora, watch out, Xigbar controls space so he can attack you from anywhere." Demyx called over to the boy. Sora nodded as the man landed on his feet, smirking at them.

"Let the games begin."

* * *

><p><strong>Uh-oh...here comes that fight with Xigbar. And here I am running from the rabid fans. *runs away*<strong>

**Xigbar: Wait, what? Hey, come back here! I wanna see if I live or not! *chases after me***

**Demyx: ...Um, just ignore them for now. Until next time!**


	72. Reunion

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 72

"Let the games begin." Xigbar smirked as he readied his arrow guns. The boys growled at him as they readied their weapons, before he did something totally different. He took one look at where Kairi, Ansem, and Kyrie were fighting before looking back at them. After a moment, he dispelled his weapons.

"We better get goin'. Looks like the girls and that dude need our help." he spoke as he began walking away. The group stared blankly at him.

"WHAAAAAT?" they cried, making him turn to them and raise an eyebrow at their confused expressions.

"What?"

"Aren't you on their side? Why're you helping us?" Sora exclaimed as he pointed his index finger at him. The man shrugged his shoulders. "What, Axel and Demmy did it, why can't I?"

"Wait, this isn't like you, Xig. What's your real motive?" Axel asked suspiciously as he dispelled his chakrams, crossing his arms. The man shrugged.

"Well, I've grown fond of little Angel and the rest of you and would feel bad if I kicked the tar out of you guys. No pun intended." the group blinked at him before he continued. "Besides, I doubt Xemnas is gonna give us hearts anyways once we get Kingdom Hearts."

"Really? You don't think he was gonna?" Demyx asked as they stared at the man. He nodded.

"After what happened at C.O., I doubt he was gonna. We're disposable to him. Now c'mon, the girls need our help." he answered. The boys nodded as they ran through the Hall of Empty Melodies, soon finding themselves at Naught's Skyway. Sora looked around at his surroundings, before looking at Xigbar.

"So uh, Xigbar, right? Why did you call me Roxas? Now that I think of it…" he looked at Axel. "Axel said he wanted to see Roxas, too. Right before Kyrie saved him. So, why did you call me Roxas?" he asked. The two men looked at each other, then at Demyx, before looking back at the boy.

"We'll tell ya once all of this is over and done with. Right now, we have to find the girls and that guy who looks like Xemnas." and with that, they took off running. Sora cried out an indignant "Hey!" before following after them, Donald and Goofy following right behind him.

"So where can we go from here to get to Kyrie and Kairi?" Sora asked as he looked at the trio, who were running on both sides of him.

"Well kid, once we get through here, we'll get to the second floor of the hall. That's where your girlfriend and Angel are." Xigbar explained. Sora blushed brightly as he looked away, embarrassed.

"S-she's not my g-girlfriend!" he exclaimed, embarrassed. Xigbar chuckled.

"Whatever you say, kiddo. Whatever you say."

-Hall of Empty Melodies, 2nd Floor-

Kyrie and Kairi stood back to back at the heartless surrounded them, keyblades drawn as they glared at the horde. Riku was about fifteen feet away, taking out his group as the heartless surrounded them. Before they could move, the doors flew open, with Sora, Axel, Xigbar, Demyx, Donald, and Goofy running in, weapons drawn. The girls smiled in relief.

"Sora!"

"Axel!"

"Hang on!" Sora cried as he rushed in, taking out the closest shadow to Kairi. The girls nodded and fought as well, trying to make sure that none of the heartless escaped. Once they were done, they relinquished their weapons.

"Kairi, you were great! Kyrie, you too!" Donald complimented. Both girls faced him, Kyrie smiling happily while Kairi giggled, brushing some of her hair back. "Oh?" she inquired. Sora nodded as he took a few steps forward.

"You are different, Kairi, but I'm just glad you're here!" he explained as she took a few steps forward as well, the two teens standing a few feet away from each other.

"You and Riku never came home, so I came looking for you." she explained.

"With a little help from Axel." Demyx coughed into his hand, making the two stare at him as Axel punched him in the shoulder. "Ow!" the two shook their heads and turned their attention back on each other.

"I'm sorry." he apologized as he looked down at the ground sadly. Suddenly, Kairi embraced him, making the boy gasp as he looked down at her.

"This is real…" she whispered as she buried her face into his shoulder. He was quiet for a few moments, before wrapping his arms around her and holding her close. Kyrie blushed a little at this, before turning her attention to Axel, who was watching the touching scene with a bemused expression on his face. She smiled, walking towards him.

"Axel…" he blinked, turning his attention to her as she approached him. He smiled in relief, running a hand through his hair.

"Kyrie… you're okay-" he was cut off when she suddenly embraced him, making him look down at her in surprise just as Sora had done. A feeling welled up inside his chest, and he hugged her back, relieved that she was safe and unharmed.

"You're okay… I-I'm so… glad." she mumbled into his stomach. He nodded as he looked down at her, before reaching into his cloak pocket and pulling out her Wayfinder.

"Uh, here. This is yours." he mumbled as he handed it to her. She looked down at the charm in her hand, before smiling and tugging the lapels of his jacket, so that he was lowered to her height. She gave him a soft kiss before pulling away, smiling but blushing madly at the same time.

"T-thank you…"

"Aw, I wish I had a camera for this! Axel and Angel FINALLY kissed, and she's talking!" the two jumped apart, their faces bright red as Axel glared at Xigbar. Donald and Goofy were laughing, as well as Demyx, while the free shooter smirked at them.

"Xigbar…"

"What? Just sayin'." the man defended. Sora and Kairi looked at them, laughing as well at the embarrassed expressions on their faces. Riku, who had watched the entire scene that had transpired between the two couples, turned and opened a corridor. Sora caught this and turned to him.

"Wait, Ansem! I mean Xehanort's heartless… I never thought for a second that I'd ever see YOU again. Just thinking about all the things you did makes me really mad. But… but you saved Kairi, right? I have to be really grateful for that… thanks." Sora spoke as he stared at the man. Kyrie blinked, Xehanort's heartless? But it was Riku, not Xehanort!

"X-Xehan…ort? B-but… that's-" before Kyrie could explained further, Kairi ran over and grabbed Riku's arm, preventing him from going any further.

"Riku, don't go!" Sora, Donald, and Goofy's jaws dropped at this, while Axel, Xigbar, and Demyx blinked in confusion. Kyrie nodded as she slipped her charm into her backpack, before wrapping her arms around Axel's.

"Kairi, what did you just say?" Sora gaped. She turned to them.

"Riku."

-Meanwhile-

"This spot should do." an elderly man spoke as he and King Mickey reached Naught's Approach. He was holding a strange gadget in his hand, making the King blink at it in confusion as he set it down.

"What's this gadget for?" he asked the man. The man, Ansem the Wise, began setting up the contraption as he stared at Kingdom Hearts.

"It's a device to reclaim Kingdom Hearts and encode it as data." he explained to his companion. The King shrugged, since he didn't know much about modern technology.

"Not sure I get it."

"I do not claim to know the outcome of this venture, either. After all…hearts are unpredictable." he agreed as the machine began to charge, emitting a flash of light as it pierced Kingdom Hearts.

-Back to Sora and the Gang-

"Then…let's finish it. You're still Riku, no matter what!" Sora exclaimed as he stared at Riku. After figuring out that it was truly him, Riku explained what he had been doing and why he had the appearance of Xehanort's heartless. Kyrie, Axel, Demyx, Xigbar, Donald, and Goofy, who had been listening silently the entire time, nodded in agreement. Sora turned to them.

"So how 'bout it? Think we can handle this last rumble together? The King's waiting!" Sora asked as he turned to Donald and Goofy. The two nodded as he turned to the nobodies and Kyrie.

"How 'bout you guys? When this is over, you can even come back to the islands with us!" he added. Kyrie smiled and nodded. "Y-yes… t-that sounds nice…"

"Hell, why not? Where Kyrie goes, I go. And where I go, she goes. Got it memorized?" Axel added as he wrapped his arm around her waist. Demyx tapped his chin with his finger.

"The islands, huh? Is there a lot of water and music?" he asked. Sora nodded, making the melodious nocturne grin. "Sure, I'm game."

"Well, since the gang's goin', I'm goin'." Kyrie smiled at this, before nudging Axel. He looked down at her in confusion before she pointed at Kairi. "G-Go…on. A-apologize…"

"Oh, right." He looked at the younger red-head, turning her attention to him as he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "About before…I'm sorry. For uh… kidnapping you." Kairi smiled at the pyro as she shook her head.

"It's okay. It's thanks to you that I got to see Sora and Riku again. Like I said before, our goals were the same. So I should be thanking you." the others blinked in confusion at her words before Axel shook his head.

"Nah, you don't need to thank me. Let's say we call this a sort of… truce?" he asked, holding out his hand. Kairi smiled as she shook it. "Okay, truce." Sora and Kyrie smiled at each other, before he turned to them.

"So, are we all ready?"

"Then let's get going!" Donald exclaimed as he pointed to the doorway ahead of them. The group nodded as they began walking, Kairi sticking to Sora's side while Kyrie stuck to Axel's. But a sharp, cold feeling made the girl stop and place a hand on her chest, her eyes wide. It was a really, really, **really** bad feeling. Like something bad was about to happen.

"**It… hurts."**

"**He's hurting us…"**

"**Make it stop…"**

"**Set us free!"**

"**Stop!"**

She clutched her head, a million voices echoing and screaming inside of her mind. It was like they were wailing in pain and lament, the most awful and heart wrenching sounds possible screaming inside of her. These feelings of pain were not her own, and they were completely foreign. But the scary thing was, these feelings at the same time weren't foreign, like something about her knew whoever it was that was feeling these feelings. It was…strange. Axel stopped, staring at her in concern as she held her head tightly between her hands.

"Kyrie? What's wrong?" he asked as he placed a hand on her shoulder. She shook her head as she held it tightly, unable to answer him.

"_W-what's… happening…?" _she thought, the screams getting worse. Opening her eyes slightly, she could see that no one else seemed to be in any pain. Why could she only hear these strange and tormented voices? After the cold chill, a sharp flash of pain radiated from her chest, making her scream in anguish as she collapsed. The rest of the group turned, their eyes wide when they spotted the girl shaking and writhing on the floor. Axel gasped as he dropped to the floor, trying to stop the girl from writhing in pain.

"Kyrie!"

* * *

><p><strong>Oh crap...run! *runs away from the fans who have now become rabid*<strong>

**Xigbar: Well, I live, so all's good.**

**Demyx: Yeah. Too bad the author-chick says that you're the last member she was going to have live. I think.**

**Axel: No, I'm pretty sure Xigbar's the last one. So it's tough luck for Saix and Luxord.**

**Luxord: Hey!**

**Saix: ...You may review whilst I go and bash their ignorant heads in. Proceed to come back the next chapter to read more. That is all. *summons claymore and goes after Axel, Demyx, and Xigbar***


	73. Proof of Existence

**Uh-oh...what's going on with Kyrie? Also, on Deviantart, I did a couple meme featuring these two, if you guys wanna check it out. OH! And there's a new poll on my page, too.**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom hearts (c) Square Enix**

* * *

><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 73

Axel could only watch helplessly as the girl he cared about writhed in pain, curled up in a little ball as she tried to muffle her screams. He snapped out of his dazed state and reached down, pulling the girl into his lap as he wrapped his arms around her and cradled her to his chest. The others had already gathered around them, trying to see what was wrong.

"Kyrie?"

"Kyrie, are you okay? What's wrong?"

"Hey, Angel, you don't look so good…"

"What's wrong with her, Axel?"

"Look, I don't know!" he exclaimed furiously as he glared at them, cradling the writhing girl against his chest. He didn't know what was wrong with her, or what caused her to scream in agony and collapse.

"_What the hell's wrong with her? She was just fine a second ago!" _he thought as he cradled her, not exactly sure what to do. Small sparks were starting to emit from her body as she buried her head into his chest, biting her lip to prevent herself from screaming in pure agony. After a few minutes, her writhing calmed down to small trembles as she panted heavily.

"Kyrie…?"

"K…K-Kingdom…H-Hearts…" she whimpered, trying to withstand the horrible pain that was ripping through her body. Something inside of her, a part of herself she didn't know and understand, was telling her that Kingdom Hearts was in trouble. It was in pain.

Axel brushed her hair out of her face as he cradled her body in his arms.

"What?"

"I-I-it's…h-hurting… t-the v-voices… screaming…p-please… make it s-s-stop…" she continued as tears started cascading down her cheeks. Riku looked over the pyro's shoulder at her, his expression grim.

"C'mon, we better hurry and keep going." he urged. Axel turned to him and opened his mouth, ready to tell him off, before he spoke again. "I don't know what's going on, but from what she just said, it might have something to do with Kingdom Hearts."

"Kingdom Hearts?" Goofy asked as he cocked his head to the side. The man nodded as he looked at the opening that led to the next room. "How much farther do we have to go before we reach Xemnas and Kingdom Hearts?" Demyx scratched the back of his head for a moment before answering.

"Well… the next room is the Proof of Existence, then it's Naught's Approach. Once we go through there and Ruin and Creation's Passage, we should be at the Altar of Naught where-"

"W-w-we… f-find Xem…Xemnas…" Kyrie answered weakly as she rested her head tiredly against Axel's chest. The pain had lessened some, but it was still intense as it drained her body of her strength. The voices in her head were now soft whimpers of pain, as she clenched her eyes tightly to block them out. Sora nodded grimly before he started heading to the next room.

"Then c'mon! We don't have time to lose!" he cried as he started walking. The others nodded in agreement and followed after him, with Axel carrying the weakened girl in his arms. Donald, Goofy, Kairi, Demyx, and Xigbar walked on both sides of him, all of them staring at the barely conscious girl in worry as her body trembled slightly from the pain. But once they got to the next room, Axel swore.

"Damn! It's blocked!" he growled as he looked at the other side of the Proof of Existence, only to see the exit blocked by some kind of barrier. Xigbar nodded grimly before looking at one of the proofs, where a portal was opened. Kairi looked around in uneasiness.

"This place is creepy, it feels like a graveyard…" she spoke in uneasiness as she inched closer to Sora. Demyx nodded.

"It kinda is. This place is the Proof of Existence, where all of our proofs lay. Each one has our weapon, rank, and title on it, and if one of us fades, it turns red and breaks." he explained. Then he pointed to his. "See? That's mine, the "Melodious Nocturne". Since I'm still here, it's blue. But look at that one," he pointed to another, Xaldin's.

"That one was Xaldin's, the "Whirlwind Lancer". It's red and broken because he's already gone."

"Wow…" Donald and Goofy awed as they looked at the thirteen proofs that surrounded the room. Kyrie winced and buried her face into Axel's chest, both in physical and emotional pain, as the memories of what happened to each of the members came flowing back. Sora looked around the room before looking at Xigbar and Demyx.

"So how do we get rid of the barrier?" he asked curiously. Xigbar pointed to the "Gambler of Fate" proof.

"See that? It's a portal that leads to "Havoc's Divide", where Luxord is. We take him out, and the barrier should open. Got that, Kiddo?" he explained. Sora nodded as he, Donald, Goofy, Riku, and Kairi began heading to the portal. Demyx and Xigbar looked back at Axel, who was still carrying Kyrie.

"You should wait here, Ax. It'll be too risky to take Kyrie along, especially since she's so weak right now." Demyx suggested. Axel was silent for a moment before nodding.

"Okay, fine. But make sure that Sora and them get back in one piece, got it memorized?" he grunted. The two nodded and followed after the group, leaving Axel and Kyrie to remain in the room. Axel looked at the girl in his arms for a few moments, before walking over to his proof, kicking some of the rubble that littered the floor away. It had been smashed, all except for the floor which had his weapon and titled displayed. He quickly sat down, his back resting against what remained of the "headstone". He adjusted his hold on the girl, so that her head was tucked under his chin as she lay in his arms.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked after a few minutes, his voice soft. She gave a soft sigh and nodded, but he wasn't fooled. "Kyrie, be honest. How bad is it, really?" he asked as he looked down at her, his emerald irises boring into her brown ones. She gave a small, weak smile before speaking.

"Bad. I…it h-hurts…b-but not as bad as…before." she answered. He nodded grimly and held her close, rocking her slowly back and forth. He nuzzled his face into her hair as he did so, taking in the scent of pine and peppermint that always seemed to clung to her. The two were silent for a few moments before she spoke, her voice soft.

"Axel…w-will they…destroy Luxord?" she asked softly, her voice cracking a little. He was silent for a moment, before nodding. "Why? You don't want them to?"

"I…I d-don't…know. A-after what h-happened…at Port Royal…I d-don't k-know. He…he c-could've k-killed them…he **wanted** to…kill them. I…want to…s-strike him d-down for that…but I…a-also d-don't want him to…to fade. I…don't k-know." she explained. He nodded and stroked her hair, understanding what she meant. He could understand her confusion on Luxord, because in the beginning, Luxord had accepted her as a member and treated her as an equal.

She winced in his hold and shuddered, turning his attention back on her as her face contorted into a grimace. She was still in pain. He began rocking her once more, not realizing that he had stopped, as he stared down at her.

"Is there something I can do to…ease the pain?" he asked as he rocked her. She gave a small shrug, his rocking lulling her steadily into sleep. "J-j-just… stay. With m-me." she answered. He gave a small smirk before titling her head, pressing his lips against her forehead as he continued to rock her.

"Don't worry. I will." he promised as she drifted off to sleep, leaving him alone with his thoughts. He stared down at the girl, feeling hurt and angry that she was suffering and that there was nothing he could do to ease or stop her pain. He felt helpless, for the first time in his life as a nobody now a somebody, he felt truly helpless. Here she was, suffering from something he couldn't control, and he could only hold her and watch as she suffered. He cursed silently, looking away from her face and staring at the wall across from them.

"Damn it…Kyrie, I'm going to make him pay. I promise."

-A little while later, Sora and the others-

"How could you…Roxas…Demyx…Xigbar…" Luxord gasped as he slumped to his knees, looking at the boy behind him as he turned. Sora growled as Xigbar and Demyx joined him, the two being able to dodge Luxord's ability that turned the rest of the group into cards themselves.

"That's SORA!" he exclaimed. But Luxord spoke no more as he faded away, the darkness taking him. With that, his friends were freed from the cards, looking around in confusion before approaching him.

"You okay?" Kairi asked as she looked at the boy in worry. He nodded.

"Yeah! No worries." he turned to the passage that led back to the Proof of Existence, where Axel and Kyrie were waiting for them. "Let's keep moving."

"You said it. That fight with Luxord really wore me out." Demyx sighed as he stretched. Xigbar sighed and shook his head, before patting the young man's shoulder.

"Dem, sooner or later you're going to have to stop being so lazy. Not a very good trait to have."

"Hey, I'm not as lazy as I used to be! I actually put a lot of effort into this fight." he argued. Xigbar chuckled at this and ruffled his hair, making the man protest and readjust his hair. Sora looked over at the two and smiled.

"Hey, guys!" the two stopped and turned to him. He grinned. "Thanks for the help. I really needed it." the two looked at each other and smiled, before looking back at him.

"No prob, Sora!"

-Proof of Existence-

Axel looked up as another proof lit up, making him narrow his eyes in disgust when he realized who's proof it was. _"Why's Saix's proof opening a portal? It doesn't make any sense…" _he thought as he stared. But his question was soon answered as the group exited Luxord's portal, only to realize that another opened as well.

"Hey, the barrier's still there. What gives?" Sora griped as he pointed at the still-intact barrier. Xigbar looked around the room before his eye landed on another proof, making him groan as he crossed his arms.

"Looks like we'll have to face Saix in the Addled Impasse. Since he's the only other member left besides Xemnas, Demyx, Axel, and myself." Xigbar explained as he pointed. The group nodded before Kairi walked over, looking at Kyrie worriedly as she did so.

"Is she still in pain?" she asked as she looked at the sleeping girl. Kyrie looked no better than before, in fact, she looked worse. Her skin was sickly pale as beads of sweat gathered on her forehead and temples, signs that a fever was setting in. Axel nodded grimly as he got to his feet, looking at the group as he did so.

"I'm coming along. Saix is no pushover, and he gets stronger in the moonlight. You wouldn't last five minutes alone with him." he spoke sternly as he stared at the group. Sora blinked in confusion before looking at the girl in his arms.

"But Axel, who's gonna watch Kyrie? We can't take her with us!" he protested. Axel looked at Demyx. "Dem, you watch her."

"Huh? But-"

"Look, Saix can kick your ass easy, with or without the moonlight. You'd be holding us back." he explained. Demyx was silent, he couldn't argue with that. He could never match up against Saix, not even in sparring matches. So he did the only thing he could, nod in agreement as he walked over. "Okay, I'll watch her. But you guys be careful, okay?"

"Okay." Axel agreed as he placed Kyrie on the ground, Demyx kneeling beside her as the group got ready to go. Axel looked down at the girl for a moment before reaching out, brushing her bangs that covered her right eye back, so that her eye was visible. He stared down at her, a sad look in his expression.

"Hang in there, Kyrie. It'll all be over soon, just hang in there." he murmured. With that, he turned, walking into the portal as Sora and the others followed after him.

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><p><strong>*hides under the bed* Yeah, yeah...I killed off Luxord. I didn't say that I was going to let them all live! Anyways, enjoy and review. And don't try to murder me in my sleep.<strong>


	74. The Lunar Diviner

**Okay, I might not update for while, because of school and such. Oh well. At least enjoy this chapter!**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts (c) Square Enix**

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><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 74

The group was quiet as they entered the Addled Impasse, Axel and Sora in the front as the others trailed behind them. Axel looked around warily before stopping, causing the others to stop as well. Saix was standing a few yards away from them, gazing at Kingdom Hearts as it shone down on him.

"Only you three could have made it this far in one piece, Roxas, Axel, Xigbar." he grunted in disgust. Sora growled.

"That's really getting old!" he exclaimed, annoyed that yet **another **person has called him Roxas. Donald and Goofy stepped in front of him, arms held out protectively.

"Yeah! He's Sora!" Donald protested. Saix gave a small smirk as he turned, his eyes focused on Sora, Axel, and Xigbar.

"Either way, you will all share the same fate as the others. A fitting fate, for a group of traitors such as yourselves. Especially you, Axel." he growled as he pointed at the pyro. Axel glared right back, his chakrams appearing in his hands as he got ready to fight. "You and I would have done well together, Axel. But instead, you betrayed me in favor of him, and that girl. Once I'm done with you, maybe I can get the girl to-"

"You leave her out of this!" he snapped, tightening his hold on his chakrams as he glared at the man who was once his friend. Saix glared right back before summoning his claymore. "I'm afraid I can't. She gave you a heart, something that I too, desire. I cannot let the opportunity slip by when it presents itself on a silver platter." he paused for a moment, before preparing to swing.

"Enough talk. Time to accept your fates!" he swung his claymore, forcing Kairi and Riku back and behind a barrier while Sora, Donald, Goofy, Xigbar, and Axel remained in the barrier with Saix, having held up with weapons to fight off the gust of wind. Axel and Sora looked at each other, before looking back at Saix.

"Let's go!"

-Meanwhile, Demyx-

Demyx watched in dismay as the girl twist and turned in her sleep, her fever getting worse as the minutes passed. He looked at the portal that led to the Addled Impasse, his expression grim as he thought about what could be happening to them.

"C'mon guys…hurry!"

…

…

Where…?

"**Hello, Kyrie." **a woman's voice spoke, stirring me awake.I opened my eyes to see a familiar face staring down at me, a woman's face. Yes… this is the woman I saw back at Betwixt and Between…

"_You…" _I started, my voice weak and raspy from the pain. She immediately placed her finger against my lips, silencing me, before pulling it away. She smiled and brushed my bangs away from my right eye as she stared down at me.

"**I know that you're in a lot of pain right now, and I am sorry. Even though this Kingdom Hearts is a mere doppelganger, it still possesses hearts like our friend. So, in turn, it will affect us just like our friend would if it were in such danger. Thankfully, since it is a doppelganger, if it were to disappear, we would be fine." **I blinked blearily at her, what did she mean? Our friend? Doppelganger?

Suddenly, she placed her hand against my head, and I felt an energy flow through me. It wasn't my energy, but it wasn't completely foreign, either. It felt vaguely familiar, like a memory calling to me from some other life.

"**Now, it is time that we stand and fight…"** and that was the last thing I heard.

…

…

Demyx was staring anxiously at Saix's proof as he waited for the others to return, before a figure moved from behind him. Turning, he gasped as he jumped back.

"Kyrie?" he gasped. Indeed it was the girl as she stood, her head tilted down. After a moment, a white aura began to form around her and she looked up, causing the young man to veer back in surprise. Her eyes were now a bright silver, not the usual brown that he was used to. Before he could open his mouth to ask, she was already at the portal, keyblades drawn.

"Come." she ordered before entering the portal, even her voice was distorted, sounding like a grown woman's as well as her usual voice. Demyx nodded and followed after her.

"_What in the world is going on?" _

-Sora and Axel-

"Ack!" Sora exclaimed as Saix sent him flying, deflecting his keyblade with ease. Axel growled and ran over, trying to make sure that the boy was all right. But Saix was in front of him in seconds, ready to bring his claymore down on his head. But the pyro was quick as he raised his chakrams, blocking the deadly blow as the two were locked in a deadly power struggle.

"If you think I'm going to let you defeat me… then you must be blind!" Saix growled as his eyes began to glow, his hair becoming wild as his scar became jagged. He quickly threw Axel aside, thanks to his increased strength in berserker mode.

"Agh!" Axel exclaimed as he slammed against the wall, the wind knocked out of him, as he slumped to the floor. _"Damn… Saix is in berserker mode. At this rate, we'll-"_

"Kyrie!" the group looked up at the voice and were surprised to see Demyx standing with Riku and Kairi, his eyes wide. Xigbar blinked as he lowered his arrow guns.

"Demyx? Where's-"

"Argh!" Saix roared as he flew back, a familiar flash of white zooming in and slashing him across the chest with two very familiar keyblades. He growled, bringing his claymore down on the person, only to have them jump away and avoid the attack completely. Once the person stopped moving, everyone gasped.

"Kyrie?" everyone exclaimed in confusion. Axel was on his feet in moments as he started running to her, worried about her safety instead of his own. But a voice spoke up, causing him to stop.

"Stand back. I will finish this quickly." she spoke, her voice distorted, as she turned to him. Her body was alight with a white aura that seemed to wrap around her, a strong energy emanating from it. Not only that, but her eyes; they were no longer the dark brown that he had grown accustomed to, but a bright silver with a tint of red in the right eye. She gave him a small smile.

"Please, Axel. Let us help you." she cooed. He blinked, us?

"Who **are** you? And what have you done with Kyrie?" he demanded. She opened her mouth to answer, but movement from the corner of her eye made her eyes narrow as she jumped, just barely avoiding a blow from the angered Saix.

"You accursed wench! I'll erase you completely!" Saix roared, his strength increasing thanks to the moonlight. But she simply glared at him, before running at him and slashing him once more with her keyblades. With that, it was all blurs as the two attacked, Kyrie dealing him deadly blows as she moved swiftly and gracefully. Saix seemed completely taken aback, surprised at the increase of strength and speed that the girl was demonstrating.

"_This strength… it does not seem to be her own. Some other entity must be involved, it would explain the white aura and the distortion in her voice. As well as the change in eye color. But what entity could it be?" _he thought as the two fought, dealing and blocking blows just to stay alive. But this thought didn't deter him as he swung his claymore, catching her off guard. She gasped, holding her keyblades up in an 'X', protecting her from the blow. But it sent her flying into the wall, making her gasp in pain as she slumped. Saix smirked as he walked over.

"Now, time to end this." he quickly raised his claymore, only to jump back to avoid the chakrams thrown at him. He growled. "Traitorous pyro…"

"You keep your filthy paws off her, Saix!" Axel growled as he ran in, helping her to her feet before standing protectively in front of her. The girl blinked at him in confusion, stumped by his actions. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Xigbar; who had been watching the entire spectacle the entire time with wide eyes, quickly rushed in, joining the two as they surrounded Saix.

"To get to her, you have to go through us!" Sora exclaimed. Donald nodded as he prepared his staff.

"Yeah!" the girl blinked at them in confusion, before a small smile graced her features. She nodded.

"Very well. Let's finish this together." and with that, everyone moved in, each dealing Saix serious blows as they attacked. It wasn't long until the man was finished, dropping his claymore with a clatter as he turned to Kingdom Hearts. He was holding his side with one arm as he panted heavily, his time running out.

"Why… Kingdom Hearts… where is my heart?" he spoke as he reached out to the heart. But his body began to dissipate, and within moments, he was gone. Axel looked away, feeling the hurt and guilt well up inside him. Kairi, Riku, and Demyx approached the group, the barrier having been lifted, as Sora turned to them.

"I don't get it. Why's everybody been calling me Roxas?" Sora asked as he stared at Riku. Demyx, Xigbar, and Axel looked away, an uncomfortable aura wafting around them. Riku glanced at them before turning his attention back to Sora.

"Because, Sora. Roxas is your nobody." his eyes widened at this.

"My…nobody? But that's crazy, I never turned into a heart… Oh, right."

"It was when you came to rescue me, remember?" Kairi spoke, reminding him of the events of the previous year. He nodded as Riku continued.

"Xemnas was the one who found Roxas. He could use the keyblade because he was your nobody. That's why-"

"That's why Xemnas brought him into the organization. But… Roxas betrayed us." Axel spoke, cutting Riku off. The man nodded as Sora looked at them. "And Roxas was your best friend…"

"And Kyrie's, too. She knew Roxas and we were her first friends in the organization. Later, Xig and Dem became her friends, too."

"Yeah, we did." Demyx agreed. Sora nodded as Riku continued. "After that I fought him because I thought it would help you wake up. I lost, but the next time we met I made sure I was the stronger one. Maybe I didn't need to fight him after all. I think he left the organization because-"

"Because he wanted to meet you. He wanted answers about himself and the keyblade, and why he had dreams about you. Got it memorized?" Axel answered, again cutting him off. Riku gave a stoic glare at the pyro, but he brushed it off. Sora looked down sadly at the revelation as he thought of the boy with blonde, spiky hair.

"Roxas… I wish I could meet him, too."

"You can meet him, Sora." all eyes turned to Kyrie, who had her back to them as she stared at Kingdom Hearts. "Because he is apart of you, you can see him whenever you wish. Just dive into your heart, and you will find him there. There, he will wait for you. All hearts are connected, when you meet someone new, the connection grows. As with Roxas, everyone he has met is now connected to you, and vice versa. Sora, you and Roxas are one. You mustn't forget this." she explained. Sora nodded before smiling, relieved that the girl was on her feet again.

"Okay, Kyrie, I won't. But I'm glad to see you on your feet again, and the way that you fought Saix-" he started, but stopped when he saw the white aura that had surrounded her dissipate. She turned to him, holding her side tightly as she panted heavily. Sparks began emitting from her, making her wince in pain.

"I'm afraid…that this one is at her limit. The pain…is too much. Until we meet again…" her eyes slowly closed shut as she fell forward. He gasped as Axel rushed in, arms held out to her.

"Kyrie!" he exclaimed as she fell, before Axel caught her. He quickly knelt over her as he held her against his chest, looking her over in concern.

"Kyrie…?" he asked softly as he cradled her. The girl gave a soft moan as her eyes fluttered open, showing the normal shade of brown that he had grown to love. He smiled in relief. "You're okay…"

"Ax…el? Wh…what hap…pend?" she asked blearily as she gazed around the room. She had no memory of getting here, and had no idea where she was. The last thing she remembered was the white-haired woman… The pyro blinked at his girlfriend in confusion.

"Huh? Don't you remember?" he asked. She shook her head slowly, making the others stare at her in confusion. But Axel gave a small chuckle as he shook his head, before holding her close. "It doesn't matter. You're okay, that's what counts. Got it memorized?" he chuckled. She smiled before wincing, burying her head into his chest. This made his new-found heart drop.

"You're…still in pain?"

"Y…yes." at this, Sora growled as he clenched his fists.

"Then c'mon, we don't have time to waste! We have to take Xemnas down, now!" Xigbar nodded as he knelt down beside Kyrie and Axel, agreeing with the boy. He wasn't even a foot away, and already he could feel the heat radiating off her. Reaching out his hand, he placed it against her forehead and sure enough, she had a fever through the leather of his gloves.

"Yeah, Angel's not gonna last long otherwise."

"All right. Let's go." Riku ordered as he, Kairi, Sora, Donald, and Goofy began walking out. Axel was about to lift the girl so he could carry her, but she stopped him.

"P-please… let me… walk. I… d-don't want…to be a b-burden." he stared down at her before nodding, placing her on her feet as he wrapped her arm around his waist. "Better?" she nodded before they began walking, following after the group. The two were quiet for a few moments before Axel stopped her. She blinked at him in confusion as he pulled her to him, holding her against his body as his arms wrapped around her tightly.

"Kyrie, you're not a burden, and I don't ever want to hear you say that about yourself. Sometimes you just need to let us help you, let me support you when you need it. Got it memorized?" she blushed a little at this and nodded, smiling.

"Yes, Axel. G-g-got it…memorized."

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><p><strong>Aw, that's so sweet... and Saix got his ass owned big time. Well, I'd best be off!<strong>

**Please review!**


	75. Farewell, Grandfather

**Okay. Still not really back from my brieg HIATUS, but...since I already had this done, might as well post it.**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts (c) Square Enix**

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><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 75

The group exited the portal, finding that the barrier had lifted and that they could continue on. Kyrie sighed in relief at this, they were getting closer and closer to Xemnas, and hopefully getting closer to stopping him. But she also felt a strange feeling in her chest, like something was telling her that something both wondrous and awful was about to occur.

"_But what? What will happen?" _she thought as the group walked, Axel keeping her left arm wrapped securely around his waist for support as they did so. She looked at Axel for a moment, one question still lingering on her mind.

"Axel?"

"Hm?"

"W-what…happened to L-Luxord? Did y-you all…" she asked, her eyes boring into his. His expression became grim, and she understood what had happened to the man. Looking down, she felt her eyes heat up as she closed her eyes. Sure, she had been angry with Luxord over the events of Port Royal, but his death still brought a pang of sadness in her heart. She felt Axel's arm wrap around her shoulders as he pressed her against his side.

"I'm sorry, Kyrie. But we can't save them all." he whispered softly. She nodded and the two continued walking. But when they came to the entrance of Naught's Approach, they heard distant voices arguing.

"Ansem! The machine!" they heard the King cry. But the next voice that spoke made Kyrie's body go stiff and all the pain disappear.

"All the more proof that hearts cannot be contained by data. Run, my friend! It's going to self-destruct, and anything could happen!" at this, she broke away from Axel, causing him to gasp as she ran away.

"Kyrie, wait!" he cried as he reached out to grab her, but she was too quick and disappeared up the landing. When she got up the landing, she spotted King Mickey as he stood next to a man with graying blonde hair, causing her to skid to a stop. The king spotted her, gasping as he turned to her.

"Kyrie!"

"Kyrie…?" the person questioned as they turned, making her gasp loudly as her hands flew to her mouth. This was the same man that had appeared in her dreams, the same man whom her younger self called "grandfather". An emotion flooded her chest at that moment, like something inside her was rejoicing. Right now, all she wanted to do was run over and embrace him.

"_Grandfather…" _He smiled tenderly at her, and held out an arm to her.

"Ah, my dear Kyrie…it's been so long." she smiled and nodded, tears in her eyes. With that, she ran into his arms, burying her face into his chest as she allowed the tears to fall. He held her tightly, like he never wanted to let her go.

"G…grand…father. I…I finally f-found…you." she choked as she held him tightly. His eyes widened as he looked down at her, surprised. But his smile grew as he held her tightly.

"Kyrie…you've finally spoken after so long…do you…remember me?" suddenly, the machine he held in his other arm shook, causing her to wince as he looked down at the machine.

"Your Majesty!" a familiar voice called, making them turn their attention to Sora and the others as they ran up the landing. Axel blinked in surprise, spotting Kyrie in Ansem's arms. "Kyrie? What's going on?"

"Axel…t-this is… my g-grandfather…" she answered, making the group gape in shock. "HUH?" they exclaimed. Ansem stared at the group sadly as he held his granddaughter in his arms, knowing that he didn't have much time left as the machine began short-circuiting.

"Sora, the rest is up to you… And Roxas- I doubt you can hear me- but… I am sorry. And you, Axel-" this made the pyro blink as he stared at the man. "Please, take care of my granddaughter. She is all that I have left." this made Kyrie blink at him in confusion and Axel nod, before Mickey turned to them.

"Ansem!"

"My heart is telling me what I must do. Please allow me to do what it says!" he spoke. But the king shook his head as he took a step forward to stop him. But Riku reached out, pulling him back.

"No! Riku!"

"His heart's decided. We can't change that." he said sternly, holding him back. Ansem looked down at the girl in his arms, holding her close.

"My dear Kyrie… I wanted to keep my promise to you, but it seems that I cannot. Please, find it in your heart to forgive me. I was unable to protect you, and you suffered so much because of my ignorance. You even lost your memories…" she shook her head, reaching up and cupping his cheek.

"Grandfather… I n-never… hated y-you. Y-you're the only… family t-that I…have l-left. A-and I d-do…f-forgive you-" she started, but stopped when a dark corridor appeared a few feet away.

"I was wondering who would dare interfere with my Kingdom Hearts. And look- here you all are. How convenient for me." Xemnas spoke as he appeared. He looked over at Ansem and Kyrie, and smirked. "Ansem the Wise…you look pathetic."

"Have your laugh. I deserve as much for failing to see you for the fool you are." he snapped. Kyrie growled as she glared at the man, feeling the anger build up in her chest.

"Students do take after their teachers. Only a fool would be your apprentice. After all, none of this would have happened without you. YOU are the source of all Heartless. It was your research that inspired me to go farther than you ever dared." Kyrie growled.

"S-shut up!" she snapped. But Ansem placed a hand on her shoulder, as he looked at his former apprentice.

"I admit…my disregard brought chaos to more worlds than one. But what were YOU seeking? You erased me from the world, only to take my name and continue research better left forgotten… Is this the answer you were looking for?" the aging man snapped at his former apprentice, holding Kyrie tightly to his chest.

"All that and more. I'm carrying on what you yourself began, and I'm creating a brand new world, one heart at a time. I thought you'd praise me, but all you ever do is hold me back. I understand, though. Unlike me, you have a heart. And you're powerless to control it. Consumed by jealousy you feel toward the student who surpassed you." Kyrie growled at this, and took a step away from her grandfather, facing the man head on.

"X-Xemnas… you're the one… who's the fool! Y-you know…n-nothing a-about the heart… a-after all…you d-don't have a…h-heart. H-how can you…u-understand a-anything a-about…the heart, w-when you lack o-one of…your own!" she spat. But before she could continue, the machine sparked, causing her to cry out in agony as she collapsed to the ground, a sharp flash of pain radiating from her chest. She felt the world spin for a moment, before everything went dark.

The group gasped as she fell, going unconscious.

"Kyrie!" Goofy cried, his hands flying to his mouth. Axel growled.

"Kyrie, hang on-" he started as he tried to run in, but Xigbar held him back. He looked back at the man in confusion. "Why're you-"

"Don't, the machine's gonna explode!" Xigbar growled. Xemnas seemed amused of this as he turned to his former teacher.

"Why Ansem the Wise, you're even more heartless than myself. You're causing your own **granddaughter** unspeakable pain, and yet you feel no remorse. How heartless." he taunted. Ansem glared at the man before looking sadly at his granddaughter, feeling hatred for his own mistakes and helpless to stop her pain. He turned his attention to Xemnas once more.

"Xehanort. Foolish apprentice of a foolish man. You have surpassed nothing- only proved how little we both know. We may profess to know the heart, but its essence is beyond our reach. We're both ignorant- as oblivious as when we began. I'm afraid any world that you try to create… Any world of yours… would be an empire of ignorance. That is why you and your creation are destined to fall!" he looked at his granddaughter, before looking over to Riku.

"We've said enough! Riku, you know what to do! King Mickey, my friend, forgive me!" He looked once more at his granddaughter, smiling sadly as she lay unconscious on the ground. "My beloved granddaughter, I doubt you can hear me now, but… I will always love you. Never forget this." he then turned his attention on the machine as it entered its critical point.

"Farewell!" and with that, the machine exploded, causing Kyrie's chest to burn up in a searing pain as she screamed, writhing on the floor in pain despite being unconscious. The others held up their arms, protecting themselves from the blast. It was over in a matter of seconds, as shards of light began to fall from the sky.

-A little while later-

"Mm…" Axel slowly opened his eyes, to find himself laying on the ground. He quickly lifted himself up, to see Demyx, Xigbar, Donald, and Goofy lying a few feet away from him. Sora and Kairi regained consciousness and looked around, spotting Riku a few feet away.

"Riku!" he exclaimed as he ran over to his fallen friend. Axel turned his attention to Demyx, Xigbar, and the King's servants as he began shaking their shoulders, trying to rouse them from their sleep.

"Hey, hey! Wake up!"

"Mrgh…just five more minutes…" Axel deadpanned and sighed, delivering a harsh kick to Demyx's behind. The man cried out in pain, now awake as he got to his feet and started rubbing his behind. "Ow, Ax! What the hell!"

"Hey, you didn't wanna wake up, so I had to kick you awake. Got it memorized?" the man nodded as he continued rubbing his behind. Xigbar snickered as he got to his feet as well, eyeing the two with a humorous glint in his eyes. Demyx glared over at him as Donald and Goofy began to laugh as well.

"Sorry, can't help it." the man defended, lifting his arms. Axel shook his head before looking around, spotting Kyrie as she lay a few feet away. His eyes widened.

"Kyrie!" he exclaimed, running over and kneeling beside the girl as he took her into his arms. He checked to see if there was any pulse, thankfully, there was. He sighed in relief as the others walked over.

"Is she…?" the King asked, staring at her worriedly. Axel shook his head.

"No, she's okay. She's just unconscious. Got it memorized?" he answered. He looked her over, surprised that she wasn't grimacing or wincing in pain, like she had when she had gone unconscious the first time. He sighed in relief at this. _"She's not in pain anymore, that's good." _he thought as he brushed her bangs away from her face.

"Riku!" turning, he spotted Sora as the boy knelt beside his fallen friend. The boy's appearance had changed, he no longer resembled Xehanort. Now, he looked like the old Riku.

"Wow…"

"Hey, he doesn't look like Xemnas anymore! What gives?" Demyx asked as he pointed. The King shrugged his shoulders. "Well, Ansem did say that anything could happen."

"Riku, you're you again!" Sora exclaimed as he helped the other boy to his feet, a black tie covering his eyes. Sora blinked as he stared at it. "Uh…you gonna take that off?"

"Yeah, it ain't gonna help us if you can't see a thing while we're fighting." Xigbar pointed out. The boy nodded and removed the tie, showing the bright turquoise eyes that were hidden beneath.

"There we go! Now was that so hard?" Demyx asked as he patted the boy's shoulders. Riku sent him a glare, making him flinch as he hid behind Xigbar. "Hey, I was just joking!" After a few moments, Riku turned to Axel.

"How much further do we have to go before we get to Xemnas?"

"Well, we just have to go through Ruin and Creation's Passage before we get to him." he answered. Riku nodded before his eyes widened, causing Axel to raise his eyebrow before the boy pointed.

"Axel, look out-" but it was too late as something cut into Axel's back, causing him to cry out in pain as he fell to the ground. Looking up, he was surprised to see Xemnas as he stood over him, one of his Ethereal blades drawn as he pointed it at the pyro.

"Xemnas…!"

"I've come to collect payment for what that fool has caused. His granddaughter should suffice." and with that he reached down, grabbing Kyrie from Axel's arms as he held the unconscious girl with one arm. Demyx, Xigbar, Donald, Goofy, Sora, Riku, and the King were in front of the fallen man immediately as Kairi tended to him.

"Put her down, Xemnas!" Sora ordered as they pointed their weapons at him. But the man raised his blade to her throat, causing them to hesitate.

"I'm afraid I cannot, brave wielders of the keyblade. You see, this girl is necessary for me to fix what has been done to my Kingdom Hearts. Farewell." and with that, he disappeared into a corridor. Axel swore as he tried sitting up, the blood dripping profusely from his back as he did so.

"Kyrie-!" he gasped, blood spurting from his lips as Kairi tried to hold him back. Sora gasped at this, his eyes wide.

"Axel! Guys!" he exclaimed. The group turned and surrounded Axel, who was wounded badly as Kairi laid him back down. Donald and Demyx were at his side immediately, preparing their spells.

"Curaga!" the two cried in unison, as golden petals and leaves fell into the wound, sealing it back up and fixing what fate had designed. After a few minutes, the man's wound was healed as Xigbar and Riku helped him to his feet, the only two taller people besides himself. They looked over to Demyx, who was searching for the two.

"Can you see them?" he shook his head.

"No, I can't. He must've taken her to the Altar of Naught, he might use her to get his own heart back." he called. Mickey scowled and crossed his arms.

"Then we have to find them, and soon. Before he hurts her!" Riku nodded as he discarded his cloak. "All right, then let's go!" the group nodded as they ran up the landing, Xigbar and Riku supporting Axel as they did so. The man scowled as they ran, feeling nothing but pure hate for Xemnas.

"_Xemnas, if you do as much as harm a hair on her, I'll personally deliver you to your end!"_

-Meanwhile, Xemnas-

Xemnas looked at his Kingdom Hearts, which was now thoroughly damaged thanks to Ansem the Wise.

"Oh…my Kingdom Hearts…" he then looked over to where he had placed the unconscious girl, a small smirk on his lips. "You will have to pay for your grandfather's mistakes, my dear Kyrie. But what will you pay? Your heart, or your freedom?"

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><p><strong>Xemnas...you're such an A**HOLE! Gah! <strong>

**Xemnas: I am not an a**hole. More of a...man who is seeking profit using other people as his pawns.**

**Me:...Yeah, a manipulative a**hole. **

**Xemnas: I am not a- *gets his ass lit on fire by Axel* AAAAAAAAAHHHH! NUMBER EIGHT!**

**Axel: That's for literally stabbing me in the back, a**hole.**

**Me: ...Please review, and meanwhile I'll just roast some weenies and marshmallows over Xemnas' burning ass.**


	76. The Mysterious Woman

**Okay, four more chapters to go and then it's on to part three! Sadly, I'm still going to be on a short HIATUS because of school and some stuff going on at home. So enough with my rambling, enjoy this chapter!**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts (c) Square Enix**

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><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 76

Axel growled as he destroyed another Berserker, his anger growing as more nobodies began to appear. They were currently making their way through Ruin and Creation's Passage, walking along the almost invisible paths that connected the landings together. Thankfully, Xigbar's Snipers and Demyx's Dancers still obeyed their commands, backing off and leaving the group alone as other nobodies fought them.

"Damn, this is getting on my nerves!" he growled as he threw his chakrams, taking out a few dusks as he did so. The others nodded as they finished off the nobody horde, allowing them to continue through the passage. Once they got to the end of the passage, Kairi turned and gasped.

"Sora! Riku!" she cried. The two turned and looked to where she was pointing, only to see hordes of heartless leaking in through the windows in the passage. Axel growled as he gripped his chakrams tightly, making Demyx turn to him and place a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, Ax. We'll get to her in time, we won't let Xemnas hurt her." he spoke, trying to soothe the man's rage. But Axel wasn't at all assured by his companion's words, his eyes narrowing as he glared at the horde. But two figures moved in front of the group, facing the heartless head on.

"Be gone from here! Leave these creatures to us!" Maleficent spoke as she and Pete stood in front of the group. Demyx sighed in relief and turned to Axel.

"C'mon, let's keep moving. We can let the witch and the idiot take the heartless for us!" he urged. Axel nodded as he dispelled his chakrams, Xigbar doing the same with his arrow guns as the three men continued on.

"_Kyrie, I'm coming!" _Axel thought as the three began climbing the stairs. But Demyx stopped halfway and turned, realizing that the rest of the group wasn't behind them.

"Hey, wait! We left Sora and them behind!" he called. Xigbar and Axel stopped, crossing their arms in aggravation.

"Dem, we don't have time to wait for 'em! We have to get to Angel before-"

"Axel, Demyx, Xigbar! Wait up!" he stopped as the young man turned, spotting Sora, Riku, the King, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy running up the stairs after them. The group quickly caught up to them as Sora pouted, crossing his arms.

"Hey, don't just bail on us! We want to save Kyrie, too! And stop Xemnas!" he griped. The trio nodded and with that they continued on, until they finally reached the Altar of Naught. Xemnas was standing in the middle of the landing, with Kyrie propped up against the railing a few feet away as her head hung low, still unconscious.

"Kyrie!" Axel exclaimed, half in relief and worry. Thankfully, the girl seemed unharmed as she rested there, her hands in her lap.

"Ohh…my Kingdom Hearts…ruined. Now I'll have to start all over again." Xemnas sighed as he stared at his now ruined Kingdom Hearts. He turned, spotting the group as they glared at him. "Warriors of the keyblade! Go forth, and bring me more hearts."

"No!" Sora, Mickey, and Riku exclaimed in unison as they summoned their keyblades. Xemnas raised his eyebrow at them, somewhat puzzled about something.

"Denizens of Light, answer this: Why do you hate the darkness?"

"Aw, we don't hate it. It's just kinda… scary. But the world's made of light AND darkness. You can't have one without the other, 'cause darkness is half of everything. Sorta makes ya wonder why we're scared of the dark." the king answered. Riku scowled as he glared at their enemy.

"It's because of who's lurking inside it." he answered, keeping his keyblade raised. Xemnas smirked.

"Then allow me another question. You accept darkness, yet choose to live in the light. So why is it that you loathe us who teeter on the edge of nothing? We who were turned away by both light and dark- never given a choice?"

"That's simple. It's because you mess up our worlds." Riku answered. Xemnas nodded in agreement.

"That may be… However, what other choice might we have had? After all, you accepted Demyx, Xigbar, and Axel before he acquired a heart of his own. They are nobodies as well…"

"Just give it a rest! You're Nobodies! You don't even exist! You're not sad about anything!" Sora exclaimed. Then he stopped, looking at Demyx and Xigbar. "Uh, no offense."

"None taken, kiddo." Xigbar answered. Xemnas smirked at this.

"Very good. You don't miss a thing. I can not feel- sorrow… No matter what misery befalls the worlds. No matter what you think, what you feel, or how you exist." Axel growled at this, summoning his chakrams.

"Look, just give the speeches and philosophies a rest already! Now let her go, got it memorized?" he growled as he pointed his chakrams at the man. But Xemnas' smirk grew as he walked over, approaching the unconscious girl.

"Hmm, I wonder, what use does this girl have? She wields a keyblade, and can slay as many heartless as I wish. But she is able to gift a nobody with a heart, something that I also desire. Should I give her back?" Axel growled again as he took a step forward, standing next to Sora as he glared hatefully at the man.

"You lay one finger on her and I'll make sure to make your end as painful as possible, you bastard!" he roared. His smirk seemed to grow as he turned to them, a plan forming in his mind. "You wish for me not to harm the girl? I may be inclined to obey your wishes…if you do my bidding."

"To hell with-" Axel growled, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. Sora glared at Xemnas as he held Axel back, looking back and forth between Xemnas and Kyrie. The boy was torn. He didn't want to help Xemnas, but Kyrie's life was at stake. What choice did he have?

"Or, if you would rather, I could use her for whatever I may." he continued. King Mickey scowled at the man as he lowered his keyblade.

"What do we do?" Donald asked in dismay as he and Goofy looked at each other. Xemnas smirked wickedly at them, before a clear, melodious voice spoke up.

"Such insolence. To think even for a moment that you can use us for your wicked deeds, shameful!" something slammed into the man's back, making him growl as he jumped back, holding his shoulder. His eyes widened when he saw exactly **who** attacked him.

"Who…who are you?" he demanded. Before him stood a woman dressed in an elegant silver yukata, robes draped over her slim shoulders as her long, white hair flowed over her shoulders. Her silver eyes glimmered with mirth, but a devilish smirk graced her fair features as she glared at the man standing before her. The group stared at her in surprise and shock, unsure on exactly who the woman was, and the reason on why she was here. She gave a playful smirk as she held out her arm, a white Kingdom Key appearing in her palm as she raised it at the man.

"This one's name is of no importance. But you tried to use us to complete your false Kingdom Hearts, and this one cannot stand idly by and allow you to use us to bend our friends to your will. And what is even more deplorable, trying to force us to give you a heart of your own. To even obtain a heart through us is tricky enough, nearly impossible." she spoke, her voice angry as she glared at him. Axel looked to where Kyrie lay, only to find her gone.

"Kyrie? Kyrie!" he exclaimed. The others turned as well and gasped, the girl was gone. They glared at Xemnas and the woman. "Okay, what did you do with Kyrie?" the woman was quiet for a moment, before laughing. They blinked at her in confusion as her laughter died down, a gentle smile on her lips as she turned to them.

"There's no need to worry, my friends. For you see-" suddenly, her appearance began to change. Her silver eyes became brown, as she shrunk a bit in size. After a moment, the group gasped in shock and surprise.

"I am right here." Kyrie smiled as she stared at them, a white aura wrapping around her. Axel blinked, his eyes wide as he stared at her. "K…Kyrie…?" he gasped. Within a moments notice, she was the woman again as she turned her attention to Xemnas.

"Hear me, Xehanort. If you continue down this path, even this one will be unable to save you from the darkness that is eating away at your very essence, your core of who you really are. You possessed that poor boy's body, only to leave him behind in armor that he can never leave. And for what? Answers to the questions you ask? Or is complete and total conquest your true goal? Even this one do not know." she warned as she stared at the man. The group blinked in confusion, just what was she talking about?

"But know this, we will stop you if you choose this path, and there will be no mercy or forgiveness that will spare your life. For this one will cut you down myself if this one must." even Xemnas was partly confused by her cryptic words, but one thing was clear. She was challenging him, daring him to continue with his plot. He smirked.

"I'm afraid that it is far too late to stop me, woman. Or is it Kyrie? Either way, the time has come." And with that, he began to distort the place, sweeping Sora and the woman away and leaving the others behind.

-Memory's Contortion-

Sora landed on the floor with a thud as the woman landed on her feet beside him, helping the boy to his feet as he looked around in confusion. The surroundings seemed vaguely familiar, but other than that, he had no idea where he was.

"Guys?" he called as he looked around. The woman shifted her gaze and nudged his shoulder, pointing to Xemnas as he stood a few yards away. He growled, summoning his keyblade.

"Xemnas, where did you take us?" he demanded. But the woman stood in front of him, staring Xemnas head on.

"This is an illusion. Do not fear, once we defeat him, we can return." she explained, keeping her gaze solely focused on that of Xemnas. Sora nodded as he stared at her, unsure if he should trust her. "But who are you? You're not Kyrie…"

"I am her, but at the same time, I am not. This one a part of her, and she is a part of this one. But do not fear, through her eyes this one saw all, and consider you a friend and ally. This one will not let Xemnas harm you, young Sora." after a moment, it dawned on him.

"So you were the one who was helping us fight Saix?" he asked. She nodded, turning her gaze forward. But her eyes widened and she pulled him back, just in time as Xemnas' blade struck the ground where he had been standing previously.

"Now is not the time to discuss this further. We must fight!" she exclaimed. The boy nodded as he ran forward, slamming his keyblade into the man's Ethereal blades. The woman followed suit, summoning a second keyblade, Lost Memory, as she slammed them into the man's side. Xemnas growled, jumping back before attacking, this time, his focus was on the woman. Their blades clashed as the woman fended him off, allowing Sora to rush in and deal him more blows.

This went on for quite some time, before Xemnas finally disappeared, too tired and wounded to continue. The area around the two began to distort, and the woman grabbed Sora, holding him against her side as an orb of light grew in her other hand.

"Take us back."

-Meanwhile, at Altar of Naught-

"Sora! Where are you?" Kairi called as she and the others looked for Sora and the strange woman, who had disappeared in thin air.

"Kyrie! You there?" Demyx called as they searched. Riku growled.

"Sora, answer me!" he called. Suddenly, Sora and the woman reappeared, the boy landing with a loud thud as they did so. The woman stood over him as they approached, and stepped back so that they could look him over. Mickey sighed in relief.

"You're okay!" he exclaimed. Sora nodded as he looked around.

"Where's Xemnas?" he asked. The woman looked up and her eyes narrowed.

"Impudent fool." the others looked to where she was staring, and gasped. Xemnas was hovering mere feet from the ruined Kingdom Hearts, his arms held out to it.

"Hear me, Kingdom Hearts! It seems we must begin anew. Ah, but know this: I will give you as many hearts as it takes. Mark my words! You can no more be complete without me than I without you. Heed me, Kingdom Hearts! Lend me your power, so that we may be complete! The power to erase the fools that hinder us." he chanted. Mickey gasped.

"Xemnas! No!"

"Hearts quivering with hatred…" he began, much to the dismay of the group.

"Xemnas! Don't!" Sora protested.

"Hearts burning with rage…"

"You'll never win!" Donald exclaimed.

"Hearts scarred by envy…That fool Ansem said that the heart's true nature was beyond his understanding. But it's not beyond mine! Hearts are the source of all power!" with that, Xemnas was consumed by a flash of light, blinding them and forcing them to cover their eyes. After a few moments, they looked and saw that he was gone.

"Xemnas! You can't hide from us!" Sora called, unsure whether the man could hear him or not. The King nodded.

"We're not gonna let him get away now!"

"But how can we get to him? We don't even know where he is!" Demyx asked as he looked around. Axel growled as he glared at Kingdom Hearts, he knew exactly where the man went.

"He went inside Kingdom Hearts, Dem. He's inside there right now, doing who-knows what. Got it memorized?" he explained. Xigbar nodded grimly as he stared at the mighty heart.

"Too bad we can't get to 'im."

"Not true. This one will create a doorway for you, young ones." they gasped and turned as the woman strolled by, her hands folded neatly in front of her yukata as she did so. She stopped and stared calmly at Kingdom Hearts, before speaking.

"Hear me, my friend. It has been long since I've spoken with you, and even longer since the day that I left your side. But please, heed my request. Our children are in danger, because of one man's ignorance. Allow them to create a doorway for these people, who want to do everything in their power to set things right. Worlds, my children, allow these children to hold your very destinies in their hands." she spoke as she stared, a light growing in her palms as she held them out to the sky. Small shards of light began to gather around the group, leaving them in awe as they watched the woman perform this ritual.

"Now, bring me a gate! A gate that will lead them into the heart itself!" and with that, the light left her hands, shooting forward and creating a door. Kairi gasped.

"Look at that!" she exclaimed, pointing. Goofy cocked his head to the side. "What's goin' on?"

"Kingdom hearts…" Mickey said in awe as he stared at the doorway. The woman turned to them, staring at them tenderly as she smiled.

"This doorway will lead you to him. We must make haste, for this one fears he will cause more harm the more time we dally." the group nodded in agreement as Riku turned to them.

"Let's go."

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><p><strong>...Yup, I'm a stinker. Don't ask who this woman is, I'll leave that for the rest of you to interperate. Anyways, enjoy, and please review. <strong>

**Sora: Leave lots of reviews! They bring motivation and inspiration! (of course common criticism isn't bad either.)**

**Me: *pats Sora on the head* Yes, leave lots of reviews. *proceeds to hug Sora* X3**


	77. The Fall of Xemnas

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts (c) Square Enix**

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><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 77

Sora, Riku, and the King stood before the doorway, their keyblades drawn and the tips touching each other as the tips glowed, releasing the lock on the door. Sora looked at the door, a look of determination on his face.

"Get ready, Xemnas. It all ends here!" he mumbled. With that, the group walked along the green, crystal-like path that led to the door. Axel looked at the woman from the corner of his eye as she walked alongside Kairi, apprehensive.

"So…if you're not Kyrie, then is she-"

"No, she is alive. This one is just manifesting herself using this body for awhile, do not fear. Once this is done, this one will lay dormant once more and give her back her body." the woman answered. He nodded, confused but trusting of the woman since she had saved Sora and opened the path for them to get to Xemnas. Kairi looked at the woman beside her, feeling a strange mixture of nostalgia and longing, like she knew this woman and had missed her.

"Do we…know each other?" she asked. The woman looked at her as she continued. "I mean, I feel like I know you from somewhere, but I don't remember meeting you." the woman smiled at this.

"My child, you were born from this one's light. You, and six others. You of the purest hearts, the seven princesses of heart. Your heart knows this one." she answered. Kairi blinked in confusion, but decided to let it go. Like with Axel, her answer was cryptic and confusing. The woman looked ahead and her eyes narrowed as they walked into the door, to see the dark city in a state of distortion. Sora gasped as he looked up, to see a dragon-like robotic creature with Xemnas standing atop its head.

"So…it seems your hearts have led you to obliteration. Perhaps it doesn't pay to be too loyal to one's heart. I will have to be sure to remember that." and with a flick of his wrist, a building began to collapse, falling towards them. The group jumped to get out of the way, Demyx, Kairi, Xigbar, and the King landing on the other side of the door. The door closed, shutting the others out while Sora, Donald, Goofy, the woman, Axel, and Riku remained inside. Sora growled as he turned towards Xemnas.

"We can take him on our own!" Sora exclaimed as he summoned his keyblade. Axel nodded in agreement as he summoned his chakrams.

"Yeah, one big dragon and a powerful nobody, this'll be easy. Got it memorized?" he added in his usual sarcasm. Sora rolled his eyes at this and ran in, slicing away the buildings that blocked his way. The woman joined in as well, using her two keyblades as she and Sora cut down the buildings like they were samurai cutting down their enemies. Riku, Axel, Donald, and Goofy followed close behind, using the pieces of broken buildings to propel themselves into one of the cores of the dragon. Once Sora and the woman joined them at the right core, they began to knock the enemies that appeared away, trying to figure out how to destroy the core.

"Damn, how do we reach it? We can't get to it from here!" Axel exclaimed as he slashed an enemy into bits. The woman glanced between the monsters and the core, before gasping.

"Sora, Axel, Riku, Donald, Goofy! Hurl the monsters into the core!" Sora and the others looked back at her, confused.

"What?"

"Follow my lead, young ones!" she exclaimed as she used her keyblades to knock the heartless away, straight into the core. This seemed to work for a short time, before Axel noticed that it was charging for an attack. He turned to the others.

"Guys, run! It's gonna fire!" he exclaimed. Sora, Riku, and the woman nodded as they jumped over, landing on the railings of the left cylinder. But when Sora turned, he gasped.

"Donald! Goofy!" he exclaimed. The two were trapped on the right cylinder, unable to make the jump. They stared at him with wide eyes.

"Sora!" they exclaimed in unison. Sora was about to go over and save them, before Riku tugged his arm back.

"No! Sora!" he exclaimed. The boy shot him a pleading look.

"But, Riku-" he started, but stopped when a blur of white shot past them, darting over to where Donald and Goofy were trapped. The woman quickly scooped Donald up with one arm and wrapped the other around Goofy's waist, jumping out of the way just as the cylinder fired. Landing gracefully in front of the two boys, she lowered the two on the ground, Sora sighing in relief.

"Thanks."

"It is this one's pleasure to assist our friends. Now, let's finish this." and with that, they got back to repeating what they did to the right cylinder to the left. After repeating this a few times, as well as jumping back and forth between the cylinders, the two cylinders exploded. The group got out just in time, jumping and reaching the energy core of the dragon.

"Attack the core, it will bring the monster down!" Riku ordered as he turned to the others. They nodded and began attacking, a barrier blocking them off a few minutes after. Nobodies began to flood the room, making Axel turn to them as he twirled his chakrams.

"You guys focus on the core, I'll handle these punks." the four nodded as they turned to the core, but the woman was at his side in moments, keyblades at the ready.

"This one will assist you. We wouldn't want what happened back at Betwixt and Between to repeat itself, would we?" she spoke. He chuckled at this.

"So, you know about that too, huh? Well, don't forget, I'm not a Nobody anymore. I can't fade away."

"That may be true, but-" she started as she cut down an assassin and berserker. "-the possibility of death is all too real." she finished. He nodded and the two began cutting down the Nobodies, flames and blade working in tandem as they took down their opponents. Once all of the Nobodies were gone, they turned their attention to Sora and the others as they finished off the energy core. With that, they moved onward, finally facing Xemnas as he sat on a thrown, incased in armor as he carried a large, blade-like staff.

"Xemnas, your time is up!" Sora cried as he ran in, keyblade ready. But a geyser of water threw him back, followed by lances and wind. Axel's eyes widened.

"Water? Wind and lances? Shit, he has our abilities!" he swore as he jumped back to avoid arrow gun bullets. The woman nodded as she helped Sora to his feet, before dispelling her white Kingdom Key. Another light grew in her hand as she focused on Xemnas.

"Come to me, Keyblade Ultima. Help this child." and within seconds, a keyblade appeared in her other hand. It was decorated in blue, white, and silver filigree and had crowns decorating its teeth, guard, and keychain. She quickly handed it to the boy, making him blink in confusion.

"Um-"

"Take it. Roxas could use the ability synch blade, so you can as well. This one knows, because I saw through this girl's eyes. Now make haste, he's coming!" she explained. He nodded and took the blade, the two jumping out of the way just as a flaming chakram was thrown at them.

"But what about you?" he cried. She turned to him and smiled, her bare hand glowing with a white light. Within seconds, the white Kingdom Key was in her hand once again.

"That keyblade is better suited for your fighting style than mine. Take good care of it." and with that, she was off, fending off the lances that tried to pierce Donald and Goofy. Sora looked at the new keyblade and nodded, running in and dealing deadly blows to Xemnas, who was now almost defenseless as the other members of the team fought off all of his obstacles. Within a matter of minutes, the fight was over and they were consumed by a flash of light.

-Altar of Naught-

"Aw man, where are they?" Demyx groaned as he scratched his head. After getting separated from the others, he and Xigbar kept an eye on Kairi and the King while making sure that no heartless or nobodies showed up. Xigbar shrugged his shoulders.

"Still fighting Xemnas, I guess." he answered. Kairi turned to them.

"They might need our help! We have to do something-" she started, but stopped when a pillar of light appeared, making the four gasp as they took a few steps back. Sora, Riku, Axel, Donald, Goofy, and the woman appeared, with Xemnas on his knees a few feet away, his hand held tightly over his chest.

"I need…more rage…I need more…hearts…" he panted. Sora looked at the man in pity.

"Xemnas. There's more to a heart than just anger or hate. It's full of all kinds of feelings. Don't you remember?" he asked. The man stared at him blankly as he began to fade away. "Unfortunately…I don't." and with that, he disappeared. All was quiet for a few moments before the King turned to them.

"Gosh, you all did great!" he complimented, making Sora blush in embarrassment as he scratched his head. The woman smiled, taking a few steps forward so that her back was turned to them.

"Yes, you have all done exceedingly well. This one is proud to call you all "friend". But, alas, this one must go. **She** is getting anxious, because she does not know what has become of her loved ones." the woman spoke. The group blinked at her in confusion as she turned to them, a serene smile on her face.

"Do not fear, we will meet again. But I do ask one thing, do not tell the girl of this one's role in Xemnas' destruction. She does not need to know these things as of yet." she asked. Demyx blinked in confusion.

"Huh? Why can't we tell her?" he asked. The woman was silent for a moment, before answering.

"Because she does not need to know. Right now, her heart is dormant inside of this one's chest, wanting to have her body back. I have kept a barrier between us, so that she didn't have to see what was going on in her absence. Eventually, I will reveal this to her. Can this one trust you to keep your voices silent on the matter?"

"Sure, since you helped us a lot. We'll keep quiet." Mickey answered. She nodded, and with that, she disappeared in a flash of light and left Kyrie in her place, the girl falling forward as she did so. Axel quickly reached out and caught her, quickly picking her up and cradling her to his chest. He sighed in relief.

"It's good to have you back, Kyrie." he whispered as he placed a chaste kiss on her forehead. Sure, she was still unconscious, but he felt at ease now that he could hold her again, and knowing that she would be all right. Suddenly, the ground began to shake, startling them as the king looked around.

"Hurry!" the King exclaimed as he turned to his companions. Riku nodded as he held his palm out.

"I'll open a path. Huh?" he gasped when he realized he was unable to open a dark corridor. Mickey looked up at him.

"You don't belong in the dark realm anymore, Riku." he explained. The boy nodded as Donald looked at his king, a look of dismay on his face.

"Then how do we get out of here, your majesty?" Donald asked as he turned to the king. Almost immediately, a dark corridor appeared, seemingly out of thin air. But unseen by Donald, Goofy, and the King stood Namine as she stood next to the corridor, leaving it opened so that they could get through.

"Who did this?" Donald asked as he examined the corridor. The King crossed his arms and cocked his head to the side.

"Welp, I'm not sure. But we'd better hurry and get through." he answered. Demyx nodded as he approached the corridor.

"Yeah, let's get out of here before we get caught up in the destruction." he added. Out of nowhere, Pluto ran up and circled the king, barking wildly and startling Demyx as he fell in, the dog following after him.

"Wait for me!" Goofy cried as he ran in. Donald and the King looked at each other before shrugging their shoulders. The King walked in and Xigbar followed, stopping with Donald as the two turned to them.

"C'mon!"

"Yeah, better hurry before it closes. Oh, and thanks, kid." he added as he looked at Namine. She smiled and the two walked through, before Kairi approached the girl.

"Thank you, Namine."

"Sure." she answered. Then she turned to Sora. "See? We met again, like we promised."

"Huh?"

"You said we'd meet again, but when we did, we might not recognize each other." a voice spoke. Suddenly, Roxas walked out of Sora's body and met Namine face-to-face, both of their bodies translucent as he did so. Axel gasped as he stared at the boy.

"Roxas…?" he asked. The boy looked at him and smiled, before turning his attention back to Namine. The girl smiled.

"I did, didn't I?" she giggled. The boy chuckled a little before continuing.

"But I knew you."

"Mmm…it's strange." she agreed. Roxas scratched his head for a moment before continuing.

"I think I understand. I see myself the way you remember me. And you see yourself the way I remember you." he added. The girl nodded, agreeing with his words.

"I always thought that nobodies were doomed to fade into darkness…" she explained, looking down at her hands. The boy placed his hand over hers, making her look up and blush a little.

"Yeah, but you, me, and Axel didn't. We got to meet our original selves and Kyrie gave Axel his own heart. Plus, Demyx and Xigbar didn't fade because Kyrie saved Demyx and Xigbar changed his mind." he explained, rolling his eyes at Demyx's and Xigbar's names. She smiled at this.

"So, we can be together again!" she exclaimed, happy with the news. The boy nodded.

"Right. Anytime Sora and Kairi are together." he added, looking at the two. Sora blushed and Kairi nodded, smiling brightly at the two.

"We'll be together every day. Right, Sora?" she assured them as she turned to the boy. He jumped a little before nodding. "Uh…yeah!" Roxas smiled before looking over to Axel and Kyrie, the girl unconscious in his arms.

"I'm sorry for all that's happened, and I'm glad…that Kyrie gave you a heart of your own." he spoke morosely as he stared at his best friend. Axel nodded before smirking.

"And what about you? Looks like you went and got a girlfriend when I wasn't looking." he teased. Roxas laughed before the girl in Axel's arms stirred a little.

"Rox…as…Nam…ine…" the two in question blinked and she went under again, before he sighed. "You guys take care of each other, okay?" Axel nodded.

"Yeah, we will. And see ya soon, buddy." and with that, Namine stepped forward and grasped Kairi's hand, disappearing in a flash of golden light and going into her body. Roxas approached his other and stared him in the eye.

"Look sharp!" Sora stiffened and nodded, and Roxas disappeared in a flash of blue light that went into Sora's body. The boy looked himself and Kairi over before Riku chuckled, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry. You're all still you." Kairi nodded as she smiled.

"Hey, let's go home!" she exclaimed as she ran to the corridor, Axel right behind her as he carried Kyrie. Riku hesitated, making Sora turn to him.

"Riku…c'mon." he urged. Riku was silent for a moment, before nodding.

"Yeah." Suddenly, the ground beneath them began to shake and the dark corridor began to close, making Kairi and Axel gasp as they turned to them.

"Sora! Riku!" she exclaimed, but was cut off when the dark corridor closed, sealing their fate.

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><p><strong>Oh geez...only three more chapters to go, and one's an epilouge! Sigh...<strong>

**Well, at least there's still part three. Which is something I'm looking forward to doing because I'm not using a main storyline. (by main I mean a storyline already existing in the series) So I'm going to have a lot of fun with it. But don't worry, I'm not going to use a crappy Disney world/movie. But if you have any suggestions that aren't in the poll, PM me!**

**Anyways, please review! XD**


	78. Sanctuary

**Oh gosh...only two more chapters... Oh! And for this chapter, I suggest listening to "Sanctuary: After the Battle" for the mood of this chapter.**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts (c) Square Enix**

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><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 78

"Sora! Riku!" Kairi exclaimed as she stared into the void of Betwixt and Between, trying to find any sign of them. Axel swore under his breath before reaching out and taking her arm.

"C'mon, if we stay still for too long, the darkness will overtake us." he urged. She turned to him and nodded, and the two ran to catch up to the others. They soon found the others standing in the center of Betwixt and Between, waiting for them. But when they realized that Sora and Riku weren't behind them, they gasped.

"Hey, where's the kid?" Xigbar asked. Axel growled.

"The corridor closed before they could get in. But I think someone closed it on purpose." he answered. Donald gasped.

"Then we hafta save them!" he exclaimed. Demyx nodded in agreement. "Yeah, but first, we better get out of here. We wanna get to the Destiny Islands, right?" he asked. Kairi nodded and with that, he opened another corridor.

"Then c'mon, let's go!"

-Destiny Islands-

The group exited the corridor and found themselves on the island where the children often played, spotting the main island in the distance. Kairi turned to Demyx, Xigbar, and Axel.

"Can you guys open a corridor for Sora and Riku to come back?" she asked. Axel nodded as he knelt down, holding Kyrie in one arm and holding the other out. But, like with Riku, a corridor didn't appear. "Huh? Why isn't it working?"

"Maybe 'cuz you're like Riku, now. You don't belong in the dark realm anymore." Demyx suggested. "Here, let me give it a try." he held out his hand, and a corridor did appear. But it was gone in a matter of moments, making the melodious nocturne blink in confusion.

"Huh? What happened?"

"We can't open a dark corridor in a place that doesn't exist." Xigbar spoke. The group stared at him. "You mean…"

"Yeah. Looks like Sora and Riku can't come back, and we can't get to them." Kairi gasped at this and shook her head in disbelief.

"No! Sora and Riku will come back, I know they will!" she exclaimed. Xigbar sighed and crossed his arms, turning his gaze to the sunset.

"I hope you're right, kid." he answered. The group was silent as they stared out into the sunset, the feelings of worry and helplessness hanging in the air before a voice sighed softly.

"Sora…Riku…" Axel gasped as he looked down in surprise. Kyrie was mumbling in her sleep, her face contorted in confusion as she slept. "They're w-waiting…the distant shore… where d-darkness… sleeps. The water…is as d-dark as the s-sky…"

"Kyrie?" he asked as he stared down at her, confused by her words. But her face softened as she drifted back into slumber, making the others look at each other in confusion.

"The distant shore where darkness sleeps?" Donald asked.

"Where the water is as dark as the sky?" Goofy added. Demyx scratched his head at this.

"Where's a place like that?"

-Kyrie's subconscious-

"**Kyrie…"**

"**Kyrie…"**

Who…is calling me? I'm so tired…

"**Kyrie, awake my child. You are needed." **I opened my eyes to find myself floating in the darkness, everything was black. I looked around in confusion, I had no idea where I was.

"**H-hello? Is a-anyone t-there?" **I called. I heard a familiar voice laugh softly and turned, to see the yukata woman standing a few feet away from me.

"**This one is right here, my dear. I know that right now, you are very weak, and this one is sorry for that. If it weren't for our bond with our dear friend, I am sure you wouldn't be as weakened as you are." **I was silent, who was this "friend" she spoke of? Was it…maybe…Kingdom Hearts?

"**But, young Sora and Riku have been trapped in the darkness by Xemnas. You and this one must open the door to light and allow them to pass through, if we ever want to see them again." **I gasped.

"_Sora and Riku are…trapped?" _I exclaimed. She nodded.

"**Yes. Now come, this one has picked up on the light in their hearts. We're going to find them." **she explained as she held her hand out to me. I stared at it for a moment, before reaching out and taking it. She smiled at me and the surroundings began to distort, changing into something else. In a moment's notice, we were standing on a beach. The sky was midnight black, the ocean just as dark. But out in the distance, a white sun shown down on the darkened sea.

"_**End of the road?" **_I heard a familiar voice ask. I turned to see Sora and Riku walking onto the beach, Sora supporting the taller boy who had numerous wounds on him.

"_**Yep." **_Sora answered as he stared out into the distance. I smiled.

"**Sora! Riku!" **I cried. But they didn't hear me as Riku turned to Sora. _**"Put me down. I can walk." **_the boy agreed and released him, stumbling a bit as he did so. Then Sora proceeded to walk closer to the water, allowing it to brush against his shoes.

"**They cannot see nor hear us. We are nothing but ghosts to them." **the woman spoke. I nodded and watched the two, feeling the sorrow build up inside my heart as I gazed around the beach.

"_**You know…maybe the darkness has gotten me, too." **_Sora spoke as he gazed out into the ocean. A loud thump behind him made him and I turn, to spot Riku lying in the sand. Sora gasped. _**"Riku!"**_

"**His wounds are terrible. The poor boy." **the woman murmured softly. I nodded in agreement, feeling a lump in my throat as Sora ran over to him. He helped him sit up before Riku turned to him. _**"This world is perfect for me. If this is what the world really is… just this, then maybe I should fade back into darkness."**_

"_**Riku…"**_

"_**If the world is made of light and darkness… We'll be the darkness." **_Sora was silent for a moment before nodding. _**"Yeah. The other side… the realm of light is safe now. Kairi, the King, and the others are there."**_

"_**That's what I mean." **_he added. I felt the lump in my throat tighten as the woman sighed. **"Willing to live in the darkness so the light would be safe…this one couldn't be any more proud of two wonderful boys who were chosen by the very weapon of this one's design. They are true keyblade wielders, in their own right." **she spoke, placing a hand over her heart. I watched as Sora helped Riku get closer to the water, before the two sat down and began to talk.

"**Can we… open t-the d-door… for t-them?"**

"**No, not yet. The only way to open the door to light for them is for one of their hearts to resonate with someone from the realm of light. In other words, their heart must resonate with the person they cherish most in the world. Like the one between you and the one called Axel." **she explained. I turned to her.

"**But h-how… can we… get t-their hearts… to r-resonate? How-"**

"**The thing that will allow Sora's heart to resonate with the one he loves has just brushed against his foot." **she answered. I looked to where Riku and Sora were sitting, Riku lifting up a bottle with a piece of paper in it. He opened the bottle and read the letter.

"_**Sora?"**_

"_**Hm?"**_

"_**I think it's for you." **_he explained as he handed the note to the boy. Sora blinked at it in confusion before taking the note from his hand as he began to read it out loud. The woman turned to me, holding out her hand.

"**Now it is time for us to open the door to light. Are you ready?" **I nodded.

"**I'm ready." **I answered as I took her hand, feeling something build inside of me as a white aura began to form around our bodies. I could feel Sora and Kairi's hearts resonating, yes, this is it. The hearts of two people chosen by the keyblade. Their light…so pure… the pure and gentle love in their hearts.

"_Thinking of you, wherever you are. _

_We pray for our sorrows to end, and hope that our hearts will blend. _

_Now I will step forward to realize this wish. _

_And who knows: Starting a new journey may not be so hard or maybe it has already begun. _

_There are many worlds, but they share the same sky- _

_one sky, one destiny." _

And in an instant, the energy left our bodies and shot forward, opening a door in light a few feet in front of them. Riku gasped.

"_**Light."**_

"_**The door to light…" **_Sora added breathlessly. He quickly got to his feet, holding out his other hand to Riku. _**"We'll go together." **_Riku stared at his hand for a moment before nodding.

"_**Yeah." **_and with that, the two stepped into the door. The woman turned to me as the scenery began to fade away, a soft smile on her lips. **"Well done, Kyrie. Well done."**

And with that, everything faded away.

-Destiny Islands-

"Sora…Riku…" Kairi mumbled softly as she stood on the beach, her gaze on the sunset. The others stared on silently behind her, not daring to say a word. Axel scowled, looking at Kyrie.

"_C'mon Sora, Roxas, Riku. C'mon." _he thought. In that moment, Kyrie began to stir in his arms, causing him to gasp as he brushed the hair away from her face.

"Kyrie?"

"They're coming… Sora and Riku…the d-door to light…" she spoke as she began to wake, the events of her subconscious temporarily replacing the reality. He blinked at her, causing the others to look over at her words.

"Sora and Riku are coming? When? How?" Demyx asked. Before she could answer, Kairi gasped.

"Look!" the group turned and watched as two balls of light shot down from the sky, hitting the water and causing an enormous splash. This roused Kyrie completely as she blinked, confused by the splash. All was silent for a few tense moments, before two familiar heads shot up from the water. Kairi smiled as she began to wave.

"Sora! Riku!" she called. The two turned to her and smiled as they began to swim towards shore. Everyone watched in stunned amazement as they reached the shallow water, Sora grinning like an idiot as they did so. Immediately Donald, Goofy, and the King rushed into the water, Donald and Goofy tackling Sora while King Mickey leaped onto Riku. Donald and Goofy had tears in their eyes as they hugged Sora tightly, glad to see the boy again. Xigbar smirked.

"Well I'll be, they made it back." he spoke as he and Demyx approached the group. Axel nodded as he helped Kyrie to her feet, steadying her as she stumbled. Kairi smiled as she approached Sora, who was still being hugged by Donald and Goofy. The boy looked up at her, smiling brightly as he reached into his pocket. For a moment, Sora and Kairi's appearance had changed, making Kyrie blink. In their place was Roxas and Namine, who were smiling at each other brightly. In a moment's notice, they were gone, leaving Sora and Kairi in their places.

"**Roxas and Namine are their Nobodies." **a voice whispered in her mind. She nodded in understanding, finally knowing what had become of her two friends. Sora stared at the charm for a moment, before looking up at her.

"W-We're back." he stammered. She nodded and grinned, holding her hand out to him.

"You're home." she added. With that, he clasped her hand, the Wayfinder clasped between their hands. Everyone smiled at this, before Demyx and Xigbar walked over and began to ruffle the boy's hair, making him gasp as he tried to make them stop. Axel looked down at her.

"Wanna go over?" at this, she nodded.

"Yes." he nodded as he helped her over, watching as Sora finally got Demyx and Xigbar to stop, getting to his feet as he did so. He smirked.

"Hey, Sora!" he called. Sora looked over and grinned, waving at the two. "Hey, guys!" he called. Kyrie smiled, the two finally reaching the group as they pestered the two boys with questions. She gave him a hug and ruffled his hair playfully as Riku came over with the King beside him.

"Sora, how'd you get back?"

"Did you use a corridor?"

"C'mon, tell us!" The two boys looked at each other, before looking back at them.

"Well, uh…we were sitting on a beach in the realm of darkness, when all of a sudden, the door to light appeared. We walked through…and ended up here. I don't know how, but-"

"It was…b-because your hearts…resonated. Yours, and Kairi's. It was…because of t-that, that…the d-door was…able to open." Kyrie answered as she pulled away from Axel, staring into the sunset. The group blinked at her in confusion as she continued.

"K-Kairi…you're right. All worlds…share the same… sky. They are…f-forever c-connected…like our…hearts. One sky…one destiny." she continued. Sora and Riku blinked at her.

"Huh? How do you know-"

"T-the lady…in the s-silver y-yukata. She…told me." she answered. She turned to them and smiled, before realizing that someone was missing. She began looking around, walking this way and that as she searched. Demyx blinked.

"Uh, Kyrie?"

"W-where…is he? W-where…is g…grandfather…?" she asked as she searched. The group went dead silent, she didn't know about Ansem's death?

"_Of course she wouldn't. She was unconscious." _Axel thought grimly as she continued to search. She turned to them, seeing the sad looks on their faces. She looked to Axel.

"W-where is he…Axel? Where…is m-my g-grandfather?" she asked again, like a small child. He was silent before stepping forward, wrapping his arms around her as he held her close. She blinked in confusion before he began.

"I'm sorry Kyrie, but…he's gone. I'm so sorry." he whispered as he held her tightly. She was silent for a few minutes, too shocked to speak. After a few moments, she pulled away and took a few steps away from them, making Axel grimace.

"Kyrie…?"

"It's…okay. It's okay." she whispered softly, keeping her gaze on the ground. "W-we were…able to stop…Xemnas. L-like grandfather…wanted. It's…okay." she continued. She turned to them and gave them a small smile. This made Axel wince, the smile was…like a mask. A façade.

"_Kyrie…"_

-Later on that Night-

After all was said and done, the King, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto left, bidding the group farewell and receiving one last hug from Sora, Kairi, and Kyrie. The group promised to check on them often, and the King even told them to stop by the castle sometime. Once they were gone, the group began discussing another important matter.

Where would the Nobodies be able to stay?

After much debating, it was decided that for the moment, they would stay inside the large tree house until they could buy a place to live. After bringing them pillows and blankets to use for the night, the three teens headed home to see their families after so long. Demyx sighed as he leaned against the wall of the tree house, exhausted.

"Well, time to hit the hay. Night, guys." he yawned as he turned off the lamp, enshrouding the room in darkness. Xigbar and Axel mumbled a "goodnight" back to the melodious nocturne as they curled up in their blankets, ready to drift off into sleep. Axel looked over to where Kyrie was, only to see that she was huddled against the wall, her arms wrapped around her knees as she held them to her chest. The girl had been quiet ever since hearing the news about her grandfather's death, saying a word here or there when someone would ask a question. He held his head up with one arm as he stared at her, her white hair the only thing we could see through the darkness.

"Kyrie? You wanna come over here? If you need a blanket-"

"No. M'fine." she answered, her voice muffled. But he wasn't buying it.

"C'mon, it's not good to sleep like that. Islands get cold at night, c'mere." he persisted. After a few minutes, she stood, quietly walking over to him and curling up next to him, allowing him to drape the blankets they shared over her. He laid down, pulling her closer to his chest as he did so.

"Better?"

"Mm-hm." she answered. All was quiet after that, but after a little while, Axel could feel her shoulders shake under his arm. He looked down, surprised to see that she was shaking. Moonlight was pouring in through the open door, and he could see the tracks of tears on her cheeks glimmer in the faint light.

"Kyrie? What's wrong?" he whispered softly as he placed a hand on her cheek, brushing away the tears with his thumb. She bit her lip, allowing a few more tears to escape before answering.

"I…I c-couldn't…cry. Not…in front of t-them…" she choked. He softened his gaze as she continued. "T-t-they were…so h-happy…I didn't want to…to ruin it. It…w-would've been…selfish o-of m-me…" she continued, choking back a sob as the tears he wiped away flowed even more. He leaned in and placed a kiss on her forehead, making her look up in confusion as he stared down at her sympathetically.

"Kyrie…no one would've thought any different of you if you had cried. Sure, we would have been sad too, but that's how friendship works. When friends are sad, we're sad and do everything we can to comfort each other. You have every right to cry. Don't think you're being selfish." he explained softly. She bit her lip as tears built up in her eyes, making him pull her closer so that her head rested against his chest. A soft creaking from behind them told Axel that Demyx and Xigbar were awake, but he didn't care.

"Go on, let it all out. It's okay. It's okay to let yourself be sad. I'm here, and I'm not gonna think any less of you. Got it memorized?" he whispered. At this, she couldn't hold it in any longer. Burying her face against his chest, she cried as her body shook, him holding her tightly all the while.

"I…I n-never g-got to…to tell him! I n-never g-got to…to ask him! I…I…!" she sobbed. Axel nodded as he shushed her, holding her tightly as he began rubbing soothing circles on her back. If he had thought her silent tears were bad, they were nothing compared to the loud sobs she was showing now. Each sob she let out was like a knife in his newfound heart. He leaned down, brushing away her tears with his thumbs as he pressed his lips roughly against hers, pulling her as close as he could, trying everything he could to comfort her.

_I watch you_

_Fast asleep_

_All I fear means nothing_

_In you and I there's a new land_

_Angels in flight_

_A sanctuary, my sanctuary, yeah_

_Where fears and lies melt away_

_Music can tie_

_What's left of me, what's left of me now._

Everything around them was quiet for awhile as she cried, but soon she was sound asleep, his soothing murmurs and the sound of his heartbeat lulling her into the darkness of sleep.

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><p><strong>Yes, I am awful. I made this so bittersweet. Anyways, all that's left is the next chapter and the epilouge, which leads into part three of this series, "Sanctioned Souls". <strong>

**Please leave a review!**


	79. A Life of Peace

**Okay, this is the last chapter before the epilouge, which will lead into the next segment "Sanctioned Souls".**

**Enjoy!**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts (c) Square Enix**

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><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 79

"Okay, so I'm going to go with Kyrie to get her some new clothes. Sora, Riku, you guys can go with Axel, Demyx, and Xigbar to help them get some clothes."

"Huh? Why do we have to go with them?"

"Because you're boys. Boys help boys get clothes, same with girls."

"Uh, I think we're old enough to pick out our new clothes, Kairi. Got it memorized?"

"Yes, but who's going to pay for them? I'm pretty sure you guys had spent all of your munny on buying that house."

Kyrie sighed as she listened to the group bicker back and forth. It had been a week since Xemnas' death, and after going to a few worlds and eliminating heartless for cash, they were finally able to buy a house on the Destiny Islands. Now they were in the middle of clothes and furniture shopping, something none of the guys were looking forward to.

"So wait, WE'RE buying their clothes? No fair!" Sora pouted as he crossed his arms. Kairi rolled her eyes at him before grabbing Kyrie's arm, leading the girl away for some much needed "girl time".

"Well, bye guys! We'll see you in a little bit!" she called as she led the girl away, leaving the boys to bicker amongst themselves about clothes and cash. Kyrie giggled at this, amused as Kairi began browsing through all of the clothing store choices they could go to.

"Hm…well, we need to get you some regular clothes, a bathing suit, some underwear, bras, a school uniform…" Kairi mumbled as she looked along the shops. "Ah! First, we'll get you some regular clothes and leave the underwear and bras for last. Alright, let's go!" with that, she grabbed Kyrie's hand and led her into the shopping district of the islands, ready to shop 'til they drop.

-A little while later-

"Hey, Kairi!" the girls look up from where they were sitting at a bench and watched as a brown-haired girl came over, smiling brightly at them as she did so. Kairi smiled back.

"Hey, Selphie!"

"Jeez, Kairi! What happened to you? One day you're on the islands, and the next you disappear. It's really- oh! Who's this?" she asked, noticing the white-haired girl sitting next to her.

"Oh, this is Kyrie. Kyrie, this is my friend, Selphie." she answered as she introduced the two. Kyrie looked up shyly at the girl as she held her hand out.

"Nice to meet you, Kyrie!" she exclaimed. Kyrie nodded and reached out, taking her hand and giving it a greeting shake before resting it back in her lap again. Selphie blinked curiously at the girl before leaning in.

"Hello…I just said 'Nice to meet you'! Aren't you going to say anything back?" she questioned. At this, Kairi stepped in.

"Um, Selphie, Kyrie's really shy and doesn't talk much to people she's just met." she explained. That was partly the truth, while Kyrie got shy with new people, she was also getting used to talking again. At times, she would pull out her notebook again and write something down, forgetting that she could talk again. Selphie nodded in understanding as she turned her attention back to Kairi again.

"So why're you guys here? Are you shopping?" she asked. Kairi nodded as she pointed to the bags at her feet.

"As a matter of fact, yes. See, we're getting new clothes for Kyrie and-"

"Oooh, why didn't you say so before? I love clothes shopping! Here, wait here, I'm going to ask my mom if I can come along."

"Wait, Selphie-" but already the girl was rushing over to her mother, who was just exiting from a convenience store with bags in hand. Kairi sighed and turned to Kyrie.

"Do you mind if she comes along?" she asked. Kyrie shook her head.

"N-no…it's f-fine. I…don't m-mind." she answered. After a few minutes, Selphie came back, stating that her mother had allowed her to come along with them. As they walked, Kairi and Selphie chatted about various things, from Riku and Sora's return to other things.

"So, where are you living, Kyrie? Did you just move here?" she asked as she looked over to the quiet girl. Kyrie nodded as she carried her bags, pondering whether or not to answer the girl. Thankfully, Kairi stepped in.

"Yeah, she just moved here. Me and her were friends way back, and I was glad when I found out she was moving here. Actually, she hasn't even seen her house yet. We're going to see it after we're done shopping. Would you like to come?" she explained. This made the girl gasp as she looked over.

"What? You haven't even seen your own house yet? Well then, we better hurry and get the stuff we need so you can see it ASAP!" she exclaimed. Kyrie giggled at this, before Selphie reached out and grabbed both of their wrists, dragging them behind her as she hurried to the nearest shop.

-Later, Outside a Café-

"Jeez, where are they? They said they'd be here…" Kairi muttered as she, Kyrie, and Selphie sat at a table, food already in front of them. Numerous bags littered their feet and under the table, each labeled with various shop logos, from clothes to accessories. Kyrie had tried numerous times to stop, but they weren't having her go home with a few small bags. Oh no, they were on a mission.

"_Still, I think they might've went overboard. Well…Selphie did, anyways." _she thought with a sigh as she took a sip of her soda.

"So, who're we waiting for?" Selphie asked as she took a sip of her lemonade. Kairi looked up at her and sighed.

"Well, we're waiting for Sora, Riku, and a few relatives of Kyrie's, as well as her boyfriend." she answered. Selphie nodded, before spotting something over Kyrie's shoulder. The white-haired girl blinked owlishly at her, confused on her expression, before an arm wrapped itself around her neck, causing her to squeak in alarm.

"Ah!" she cried, waving her arms as her chair tipped back. But a foot pushed it forward, keeping her from falling as a familiar mess of red hair entered her vision.

"Whoops, sorry. Didn't mean to scare ya, Kyrie." Axel apologized as he ruffled her hair, giving her a peck on the cheek as he did so. She smiled and shook her head, pecking his cheek in return and scooting over so he could sit down. They were soon joined by the rest of the gang as Sora and Riku sat next to Kairi and Selphie, while Demyx and Xigbar sat on the other side of Kyrie. Selphie looked at the new additions to their group, blinking at the three older men with a confused look on her face.

"I was wondering when you'd show up. What took you guys so long?" Kairi scolded as she looked at Riku and Sora. Sora scratched the back of his head and gave her a sheepish grin.

"Well…we kinda….had a few fights while shopping." Kairi and Kyrie rolled their eyes at this.

"Why am I not surprised…" she sighed, shaking her head. Axel snorted before looking down at their feet, seeing numerous bags surrounding the legs of the table.

"Damn, we didn't even come as close to THAT many bags. What did you do, buy the whole store?" he asked as he pointed at the bags. Kyrie giggled and blushed, looking away coyly. Axel noticed this and smirked, his arm tightening around her shoulders and bringing her closer to him. Kairi, watching the two for a moment, pouted and crossed her arms.

"We did not buy the whole store! Kyrie's a girl, girls need things." she retorted. Demyx looked over from where he was sitting, menu propped up on the table, as he blinked at her in confusion.

"Things? Didn't you just buy clothes?" he asked. At this, Kyrie's face exploded with color as she ducked her head, looking at her feet. Before anyone could say anything, Xigbar conked him on the head.

"Ow! Hey!"

"Watch the questions. You're gettin' Angel all embarrassed." he answered, smirking a little. The two glared daggers at each other before Sora and Kairi stood, grabbing some of the bags as they did so.

"How about we head to your new house? I think we've got enough." Demyx, Xigbar, Axel, and Kyrie looked at each other before nodding.

"Okay, then let's go!"

-A little while later-

"_Wow…" _Kyrie thought as she, Axel, Demyx, Xigbar, Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Selphie stood in front of their new home. It was a simple two-story, the outside painted a soft cream color and the window frames painted a pale blue, while the roof was covered with black shingles. A small balcony could be seen on the second floor, and various flowers and foliage littered the small, fenced-in yard. Down the path from the house was the beach and the pier the children used to get to the other island.

"Hey, didn't old Mrs. Tanaka live here?" Selphie asked as she glanced over at Sora, Riku, and Kairi. The trio nodded.

"Yeah, but she died, remember? Her son's been trying to sell this house for years…I'm surprised it's not covered in vines or whatever." Riku answered. Xigbar smirked as he looked over at Axel and Kyrie, the only two who had not seen the house yet.

"So, whaddya think? Nice, right? Me and Dem thought real hard about this one." he asked as he looked over. Axel gave a shrug, not really caring what the house looked like. But Kyrie stared in awe and wonder as she took a few steps forward, examining the flowers that grew on the fence, the scent of jasmine hitting her nose as she inhaled deeply. She turned to them, a smile clear on her face as she stared at them. Xigbar chuckled.

"Well, from the look on her face, I'd say she likes it." Demyx nodded as he ran to the door, keys in hand.

"Well, enough gawking! Let's show them the inside!" he exclaimed as he unlocked the door, allowing them inside. Sora and Kyrie were the first in, both excited on the new house. The others followed behind at a slower face, trying to keep themselves from laughing silly. Sora and Kyrie looked like kids on Christmas day, and Sora wasn't even living here!

"Wow…this place is so big!" Sora exclaimed as the two looked around. There wasn't much furniture yet, but the walls were painted an off-white and the carpet a soft beige, giving the house a warm feeling. The living room and the dining room were connected, with the dining room leading into the kitchen and breakfast bar. A set of stairs led to the second floor, which the two immediately ran up after they finished examining the ground floor. Axel looked around, a bemused expression on his face.

"Pretty big place, at least, without the furniture. You could fit a family of five in this place." he commented as he followed his girlfriend to the second floor. Demyx grinned as he followed after the three, with the others close behind. But once they got to the floor, they came upon an embarrassing situation.

"Wait…this place only has THREE bedrooms?"

"Uh…oops? I guess we forgot that." Demyx laughed nervously as he scratched the back of his head. Xigbar face-palmed at this, before looking at the rooms.

"Hey, at least there's already beds in them." but when Axel looked into the master bedroom, he groaned.

"Yeah, two regular beds and a double! Xigbar, what were you thinking?" he groaned, exasperated. The Free shooter chuckled at this, seeing the bright blush on his face. Sora looked into the three bedrooms, before looking back at them.

"Well, it looks like two people have to share the double bed. It'd kinda be a waste if only one person used it." he pointed out. Kairi quickly grabbed Kyrie, pushing her towards one of the bedrooms.

"Well, she's going to take one of the bedrooms. It looks like one of you guys has to share." she said adamantly, scowling at the thought of them making her share a bed or bedroom. The three men looked at each other, before looking back to the master bedroom.

"Hell. No. I am NOT sharing a bed, let alone a room, with either of you! Got it memorized?" Axel exclaimed. Xigbar nodded in agreement, also not wanting to share a bed. Kyrie looked over Kairi's shoulder, before stepping around her and grasping Axel's hand.

"I…d-don't m-mind…sharing…" she explained, not wanting to cause trouble. Xigbar and Demyx went into protective brother/father/uncle mode immediately, pulling her away from Axel.

"No way, Angel. We are NOT having you two sleep in the same bed together. Especially now that you're boyfriend-girlfriend." Xigbar said sternly, glaring daggers at Axel. Sora blinked innocently, not really seeing a problem.

"Huh? Why can't they sleep in the same bed?" he asked. Kairi blushed at this and covered her face with her hands, trying to hide her blush while Riku rolled his eyes, typical Sora. Selphie gaped at this, Demyx blushed and scratched the back of his head, Xigbar blinked, and Axel gawked at him. The group was silent for a few minutes, before Axel spoke up.

"Sora…did anyone ever give you the talk about the birds and the bees?"

"Huh? The birds and the bees? What does that have anything to do with sharing the same bed?" he asked, confused. Kyrie nodded, not understanding why she and Axel couldn't share the same bed. Heck, for most of the week, she had spent every night curled up against his chest, snuggling against him. Axel sighed, waving him off.

"Never mind, we'll explain to you sometime. Anyways," he turned his attention to Demyx and Xigbar. "Look, there's no way I would ever put my hands on her without her consent. Got it memorized?" he growled as he pointed to his temple. The two nobodies were silent for a moment, before sighing in defeat.

"All right, fine. But I better not hear or catch you two doing anything inappropriate, capiche?" Xigbar warned, crossing his arms. Axel nodded as he held Kyrie to his side. With that, Demyx turned to the younger teens and smiled.

"So, anyone wanna stay for pizza to celebrate?"

-That Night-

After staying and having pizza, the teens went home, leaving the two nobodies and two somebodies to set things up in their new home. Axel gave a loud sigh, falling back onto the bed as he stared at the ceiling. Kyrie sat down beside him, staring down at him curiously as her hair fell into his face. He smirked, reaching up and cupping her cheek as they stared at each other.

"I don't know about you, but I'm beat. All that shopping today has worn me out, as well as all the fighting between Sora, Riku, Demyx, and Xigbar. Got it memorized?" he chuckled. She giggled before leaning down, capturing her lips with his. He returned the kiss eagerly, tangling his fingers in her hair as he brought her closer. After a few moments, they pulled apart. She quickly got to her feet and walked over to their new dresser, pulling out her nightgown as she walked into the bathroom that was in the master bedroom. After a few minutes, she emerged in a white nightdress that had lace at the neckline as well as the bottom and sleeves of the dress.

"_Today has been…eventful. We have a house to live in, we got new clothes and furniture, and for once…we don't have to watch for danger. Everything is…peaceful. And tomorrow…I'm starting as a Junior at Kairi's school." _she thought as she walked out of the bathroom. For the first time in a long while, she felt like she could relax and not have to worry about heartless and the organization. Sure, losing her grandfather had been painful, but she had her friends, Axel, Demyx, and Xigbar with her. Everything would be okay, now.

She was surprised to see Axel already in his sleepwear, a grey tank top and red sweatpants, with his hands behind his head as he lay in bed. She padded over quietly and got in, trying not to disturb the pyro. He looked over at her before wrapping his arm around her shoulders, pulling so that her head rested on his chest. She could hear the even pounding of his heart, and smiled at the bubbly feelings she felt at every beat.

"_His heart…it sounds so…wonderful." _she thought as she listened. Without warning, he got up and out of the bed, leaving the girl confused as he walked over to the dresser. On top of it lay Kyrie's sketchbook, notebook, photographs, Wayfinder, and the star plush she always carried around. He gazed at the other items for a moment, before grabbing the plush. With that, he walked back over to the bed and got in, handing it to her. She blinked at it in confusion before he spoke.

"I know that it's important to you, so…" he explained, scratching the back of his head. The days after Xemnas and Ansem's deaths had been hard for her, and she had cradled the toy tightly in her arms every night, trying to find some solace in it. She nodded and smiled, before wrapping her arms around him. He blinked at her in confusion, before doing the same.

"I…I wanted…" he looked down at her, eyebrow raised.

"To…r-remember…everything. Who I…was. Grandfather…he k-knew. He…w-was t-the…o-only family…that I had…left. Maybe…I'm not meant…t-to remember." she whispered, her head resting against his chest. He nodded in understanding, before laying back and pulling the covers over them. After getting a heart of his own, all of his memories of his previous somebodies' life disappeared. He knew he was a Nobody, and could remember his entire life as a Nobody. But as for his previous life…he couldn't even remember their name. He traced circles on her shoulders as they lay there, before he spoke.

"I dunno about you, but I'm pretty content the way that things are. Even if you can't remember all those things, it doesn't change who you are. And if I do say so myself, I like you as you are." he stated. She was silent for a few minutes, before giggling softly. She nuzzled under his chin, feeling the exhaustion wash over her.

"…Yeah. I'm happy…too. I got to meet…many wonderful…friends. Even…fell in love…with you…" she whispered as she drifted off to sleep. Axel stared down at her for a few seconds, before smiling and holding her close. He gazed out the window, watching the full moon bask its light on the houses and scenery.

"_See ya tomorrow." _he thought, and with that, he fell asleep.

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><p><strong>Yup, Kyrie, Axel, Demyx, and Xigbar are now permenant residents on the Destiny Islands. And what's this, Axel's forgotten about his past as Lea? What's the deal?<strong>

**Axel: Well, ya see-**

**Me: No spoiling! I'll reveal it all in part 3. That'll give them something to look forward to.**

**Kyrie: *nods in agreement* Y-yes...until t-the next...chapter...p-please read and r-review!**


	80. Another Side Another Story

**Okay, here's the epilouge! Enjoy!**

**Kyrie (c) Me**

**Kingdom Hearts (c) Square Enix**

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><p>Kingdom Hearts<p>

Bonded Soul

Chapter 80

_Another Side, Another Story…_

All was quiet in the Mysterious Tower as King Mickey and Master Yen Sid sat in his study, discussing the many things Sora and the others had done, as well as what Data-Sora had found.

"Yen Sid… I think we're finally close to figuring out where Ven's heart is." the King explained to his former master. Yen Sid nodded at his former apprentice as he stroked his beard, lost in thought.

"Is that so? Then that leaves only Terra." he stated. The King nodded as he clenched his fist.

"Right. And we've gotta save all three of 'em." he added. Yen Sid nodded as he kept stroking his beard.

"Hmm…the question is: What does Xehanort intend to do next?" the King blinked at him in confusion.

"Xehanort? But his two halves are gone. There was Ansem, who commanded the heartless… and Xemnas, who commanded the Nobodies. Didn't Sora defeat them both?" he questioned. Yen Sid nodded, his expression grim.

"Correct, those two met their end. However, therein lies exactly our problem. Their destruction now guarantees the original Xehanort's reconstruction." he explained. The King cocked his head to the side, confused.

"Huh?"

"Xehanort's heart, once seized by his heartless half, is now free. And his body, which had become his nobody, has been vanquished. Both halves will now be returned to the whole. In short… this means that Master Xehanort will return." he explained. The King was silent for a moment, before staring up at his former master.

"And you think… you think maybe he's gonna try something?" he asked. The elder sorcerer nodded.

"A man like Xehanort will have left many roads open."

"Well, it doesn't matter what he cooks up. Me and Sora, we'll be ready, and Riku and Kyrie, too!" he exclaimed. Yen Sid nodded as he resumed stroking his beard.

"Yes, they are indeed strong. But… not true Keyblade Masters, like you. Tell me… would a single one of you suffice if what you faced was not a single one of him?" he asked the King, his voice serious and his expression even grimmer.

"What? What do you mean?" King Mickey exclaimed as he slammed his hands on the table. The elder man was silent for a moment, before leaning forward and placing his hands on the table.

"Mickey, please summon Sora and Kyrie hither, Riku as well." he ordered as he stood. The King nodded.

"Of course, but…why?" he asked. Yen Side paused, before turning his gaze on him.

"To show us the Mark of Mastery."

_Another Side, Another Story…_

A girl with auburn hair looked up at the night sky as she walked, her sword at her hip and the feathers in her hair bouncing as she did so. Her bright blue eyes watched as the stars fell, before a smile graced her features. She stopped after a moment, feeling a warmth in her chest that seemed to grow the more she watched the stars. But that warmth…it didn't feel like her own.

"Something's coming. I can feel it."

_Another Side, Another Story…_

_**She came to him, **_

_**knowing that his time was near, **_

_**and took pity on his fading form.**_

_**Using her strength, **_

_**She breathed life into him once more.**_

_**But she left behind a piece of her,**_

_**That prevented her from returning home.**_

_**The Mighty Heart grieved,**_

_**For it would never see its friend again.**_

_**Until she regained what she had lost.**_

A woman with white, trailing hair dressed in an elegant, silver yukata sighed softly as she stood in the middle of a station, with an image of a white-haired girl: a girl who looked vastly different from the woman. Faces of various people also appeared on the station, that of a red-haired man, a brunette boy, a red-haired girl, and many others. She gazed up into the darkness, seeing a pillar of light far off into the distance. She smiled gently.

"Soon my friend, soon. We will come home as soon as our final duty is done. Just be patient." then she looked down at the station, a sad expression crossing her features as she gazed down at the face etched in the stained glass.

"I'm so sorry, young Kyrie. If things were different, this one would have allowed you to live this life to the fullest. Sadly…it is not to be."

_**For those trapped in sleep,**_

_**Are destined to dream forever.**_

_**They suffer from the pain,**_

_**Of losing something precious.**_

_**But only with hearts true,**_

_**Can they ever awaken.**_

_**For now, they wait in their…**_

_**Birth By Sleep…**_

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><p><strong>Ooooh, got y'all excited, didn't I? And hopefully you guys recognize the auburn-haired girl from one of the previous chapter. If not...go back and reread! *laughs maniacally* Lol I kid, I kid! <strong>

**Well, part three won't be out for another week or so because of college work, presentations, and the fact that my birthday is on April 1st. (yeah yeah, April Fools Day.) So you guys might have to wait a while. But if you've added me to your author alerts, you'll know when it comes out. (I'm not saying you HAVE to, just keep an eye out in the "Axel" category if you didn't.)**

**Anyways, I hope you all greatly enjoyed "Bonded Souls" and I'm kinda sad to be finishing up part two. But, without part two, there's no part three, right? So please, review and keep an eye out for part three!**


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